A wonderful view of the Χωρα (Chora) Church in former Constantinople
More of the Chora Church
The outsides of the Byzantine "Chora Church" which was built in the early 5th century
The inside of the Chora Church is filled with he most beautiful mosiacs, many of which are made with gold tiles. It's truly breathtaking inside.
In this mosaic we see a depiction of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead
Another of the Mosaics inside the Church
You can't use a flash inside of the Church, as the frescoes are very fragile, so the images I've taken suffered a bit, but anything for the preservation of History!
Here we see Mary and the infant Jesus, surrounded by angels on one of the domes of the church
The inside of a nice little archway inside the church, I couldn't identify the figures from what was left as the tiles were damaged
A beautiful mosaic of Christ Enthroned
Iconography of some Bishops in the Apse of a chapel in the Church
More Bishops on the other side of the Apse
The imagery was stunning, there aren't enough hours in the day to spend looking at it
A Chi-Rho inside a small archway in the Church, it's not a good photo, but even a great photo wouldn't make it look much better
The capital on this Column was gorgeous
Christ healing the leper -- look at all the gold in this!
One of the many large images of The Christ
Looking up into one of the many domes!
The Theotokos (Mary)!
Mary and the Infant Jesus
An image of "Christ the wise teacher"
A (poorly photographed) image of Mary and Child
An image of Χριστοσ Παντοκρατορ (Christ the Ruler of All) very similar to one I have in my room, only mines much smaller, and is painted on wood, not using gold tile.
The main dome of the Church from the outside
This was a little grave marker sitting outside the Chora Church, as it was converted to a Mosque after the Ottomans took the city from the Byzantines
This is the "Theodosian Land Wall" built in the late 300's by Emperor Theodosius to protect the city -- they were of vital importance to the City
A view of Istanbul from the Theodosian Land Wall
Istanbul, from the wall
A Minaret outside the Prince's Mosque
The outside entrance to the courtyard in the Prince's Mosque
Inside the Courtyard of the Prince's Mosque
Doors inside the court yard
More doors, I like the tile work above them
The dome in the mosque
Interior to mosque
More interior of the mosque
The Chandelier inside the mosque
An Arabic "Icon" in the mosque
The dome of the mosque, yet again
A REAL LIFE ROMAN AQUADUCT -- you have no idea how exciting this was
a part of the outside of the Suleyman Mosque in Istanbul, the largest in Turkey, it's impossible to get a good picture of it with my camera, there was simply too much mosque
one if its minarets, under restoration
a tombstone outside the mosque
More tombstones outside of the mosque
Some arabic script on one of the grave stones
This is a dome inside the mausoleum containing the remains of Sultan Suleyman, who had the mosque next door to it built
More of the inside of the mausoleum
again, more of the inside
The actual tomb of Suleyman
another shot of the tomb of Suleyman, there are other Sultans entombed in the mausoleum
This was the only bit of the inside o the actual mosque we got to see, the rest is under restoration
