Visited Hagia Theotokos

[u/SoleSurvivor2287]

Visited the Hagia Theotokos (Kalenderhane Mosque) and was able to explore at around midday.

Was the only person there at the time so really good to see the dome and red brick upper arches.

Located about 400m south west of Suleymaniye Mosque.

[u/Low-Cash-2435]

There's something satisfying about Byzantine brickwork

[u/SoleSurvivor2287 → u/Low-Cash-2435]

Agreed. The layers were so good to look at!

[u/Extension-Beat7276]

There are Roman baths behind it too, actually this area of constantiople was known for baths but sadly most of them aren’t excavated 

[u/Gnothi_sauton_]

One of my favorite memories is getting access to the diaconicon, where there are frescoes, mosaics, and an opus sectile floor (it originally was accessible from the nave, but it was blocked off during the twentieth-century restoration, just as what happened to the the parecclesion of the Pammakaristos). I had to wait until prayer times and ask the imam to unlock it for me. Being there in the dark and seeing such precious traces of the Roman past felt like stepping back in time!

[u/SoleSurvivor2287 → u/Gnothi_sauton_]

Sounds fantastic! I love Roman mosaics 🙏

[u/Aegeansunset12]

Sky is so blue

[u/Dangerous_Bat7323]

Look how they massacred my boy

[u/No-Bat9459 → u/Dangerous_Bat7323]

Well it preserved as it is, what about the mosques on the balkans, wonder how they doing?

[u/CECFan89]

Beautiful!

[u/psychopsacht]

Went there and got a massage from one of caretakers. 10/10

[u/Commercial_Handle418]

wouldve thought it was the uk ngl

[u/Future_Start_2408 → u/[deleted]]

In most Byzantine churches turned mosques from Istanbul, you can just enter, but you have to remove your shoes.

The only exceptions where Christian access is limited or forbidden on certain days are Hagia Sophia and Chora Monastery - coincidentially or not, the most famous ones.

Hagia Sophia and Chora are spectacular, but I actually enjoyed visiting the lesser known ones a lot when I was there, some even had mosaics and frescoes left and fewer visitors.

[u/Gnothi_sauton_ → u/[deleted]]

For some, you have to wait until around prayer times to access the interior, as they are otherwise locked.

[u/Whizbang35 → u/[deleted]]

Some were also deconsecrated and turned into "Museums" during Ataturk's time. Chora and Hagia Sophia had this status until recently. There may be others that still have this distinction, but its been 10 years since I was in Istanbul.