This morning I was going to visit some of Istanbul's Christian heritage. They city is well known for its mosques but there is a Byzantine Christian heritage that predates it. Since I'd been visiting Mosques across the Balkans visiting churches in Istanbul will bring balance of how the two faiths have lived together

I had planned on visiting in 2007 but I wasted a day going back and forth to a camera shop trying to fix my camera when he kept telling me to come back in again in another hour or two.

I'm actually staying further away from the tourist centre so its easier to walk to the churches which are located quite north from the historic centre

There is one close to my hotel which I has saw yesterday not realizing what it was. Zeyrek Mosque was two Orthodox churches next to each other and expanded into one big mosque

I read the neighbourhood was sketchy and best to go in daylight hours. The mosque is perched on a roadside hill next to the Roman aqueduct. There is a lot of restoration work going on in the city and unfortunately this was one of the sites closed off to the public while work goes on

On route to the next church was Fatih Mosque. This also seemed to be undergoing renovations and I thought it was closed too. The Mosque itself has finished the restoration and is quite impressive with its clean white marble and stained glass windows. The outer buildings and madrassas are still under restoration work

Walking distance away was Chora Church. This is listed as one of the must see sights of Byzantine Istanbul due to its frescoes.

When I got there it was closed Wednesdays which is very odd. In most places museums are open sat/sun then close Mondays. Wednesdays makes no senses?

It had round Byzantine domes with a minaret added in the corner. Here are some pictures of the interior from the internet with more detailed explanation as I'm sure pictures wouldn't have been allowed anyway
http://www.letsgoistanbul.com/kariye.ht m

There was a nice garden as had been next to Zeyrek Mosque also. Next I had hand drawn a map from the internet guiding me to a Jewish Synagogue. I was winding thru streets and saw no sign of it.

Just when I was about to give up thinking I was totally lost from my map too I saw some Hebrew writing on a building but the doors where locked

Now I made my way back to the riverfront to find St Stephen's the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Unfortunately this was closed for restoration too so no public access

Climbing up one of the sidestreets I could see the big red brick building which was the home of the Patriarch. It too was closed and I didn't expect public access. Its some sort of college

In the surrounding streets were supposed to be two more churches. One was behind the big red building and in a poor state of repair.

The other I tried asking locals but I don't think they know about these buildings or call them by different names. I'd taken a screen shot on my camera and was trying to navigate the map. None of the street names matched and I was going to give up

Eventually I found a match so I followed that street and finally fouund a church but it was in very bad shape too and locked. I was going to give up and head down to street level

Wandering the streets down was another round Byzantine building in great shape and was a museum. Unfortunately this too was closed on Wednesdays.

Back at street level I saw a Greek Orthodox church whose doors were open. Unfortuantely he said I wasnt allowed inside.

These places were too hard to get too and I wont by able to come back. Its a shame they arent on tourist maps and were closed today. These neighbourhoods are also very run down, no street lighting at night, and some buildings derelict or collapsing. There are nice churches on the Taksim side by the Embassies but this is the historical Byzantine heart.

If you want to come here make sure you have good directions and come early in the day. Walking back to the hotel I got a big lunch for 8.5TL ($4) compared to the one dish rip off yesterday at the bus station for 20TL ($10)