Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The serenely beautiful interior and superb acoustics mean that tickets to events here are
usually the most sought-after in town (they're also the only way to see the building's in-
terior, as it is usually closed to the public). During the festival there is a temporary box of-
fice located outside the church; tickets can also be booked online at Biletix.
There is talk of the church being used as a museum of Byzantium in the future, but the
first priority identified by heritage authorities is to undertake stabilisation and restoration
work, as the structure is in a relatively serious state of disrepair.
GREAT PALACE OF BYZANTIUM
Constantine the Great built the Great Palace soon after he founded Constantinople in AD 324. Suc-
cessive Byzantine leaders left their mark by adding to it, and the complex eventually consisted of
hundreds of buildings enclosed by walls and set in terraced parklands stretching from the Hippo-
drome over to Aya Sofya (Hagia Sofia) and down the slope, ending at the sea walls on the Sea of
Marmara. The palace was finally abandoned after the Fourth Crusade sacked the city in 1204, and its
ruins were pillaged and filled in after the Conquest, becoming mere foundations of much of Sulta-
nahmet and Cankurtaran.
Various pieces of the Great Palace have been uncovered - many by budding hotelier 'archaeolo-
complex, and excavations at the Sultanahmet Archaeological Park in Kabasakal Caddesi, near Aya
Sofya, have uncovered other parts of the palace. Controversially, some of these excavations are be-
ing subsumed into a new extension of the neighbouring luxury Four Seasons Hotel.
cient Byzantium to life, or purchase a copy of the lavishly illustrated guidebook
Walking Through
Byzantium: Great Palace Region,
which was also produced as part of the Byzantium 1200 project.
You'll find it in shops around Sultanahmet.
SOĞUKÇEŞME SOKAK
OFFLINE MAP
| HISTORIC AREA
GOOGLE MAP
( Sultanahmet, Gülhane)
Running between the Topkapı Palace walls and Aya Sofya, this
cobbled street is named after the Soğuk Çeşme (Cold Fountain) at its southern end. It is
