Art & Architecture of Romans

We will start the day with a visit to a Little Hagia Sophia, which was formerly built as an Eastern Orthodox church, dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople, later converted into a mosque during the Ottoman Empire. The Little Sophia with its central dome plan was erected in the 6th century and was a model for the Hagia Sophia, the main church of the Byzantine Empire in that time and is one of the oldest churches of the city which is functioning as a mosque today. Our next visit will be to the archaeological museum, which consists of 3 separate sections. We will start with the Ancient Orient Museum, where we will learn about the archaeological sites of Turkey. The collection of the Ancient Orient Museum consists of artifacts from pre-Greek Anatolia and Mesopotamia and from pre-Islamic Egypt and Arabian Peninsula. We will then cross to the Archaeological Museum (main building), which houses various artifacts from civilizations that had left their traces to different periods of the history, is one of the ten most important world-class museums designed and used as a museum building. It is the first institution in Turkey arranged as a museum, with its spectacular collections as well as the architectural aspects of its buildings and its garden. On the ground floor, the sculptures from the Ancient Age from the Archaic Era to the Roman Era may be seen on the right side, and worldwide famous unique artifacts such as the Alexander Sarcophagus, the Sarcophagus of Crying Women and the Sarcophagus of Tabnit that came from the Royal Necropolis in Sidon. “Istanbul through the Ages” collection is exhibited on the first floor of the new building, the “Anatolia and Troy through the Ages” collection on the second floor and the “Surrounding Cultures of Anatolia: Artifacts from Syria, Palestine and Cyprus” collection on the third floor, in chronological order. We will also visit the Museum of Tiled Kiosk with magnificent samples of early Islamic tiles, oil lamps and wall decoration medieval Selcuk tiles.
After lunch in a nice local restaurant, we will transfer to the one of the most important and beautiful Eastern Roman churches, known as the Church of the Holy Savior of Khora Museum (called Kariye in Turkish). This building, which originally dates back to 5th century A.D., has a superb series of mosaics and frescoes covering the walls of the inside that depict the chronology of the Christ and Mary. End of the tour and return to hotel.