Istanbul Half Day Afternoon Tour: Topkapi Palace and Little Hagia Sophia

Sightseeing  :  Turkey  :  Marmara  :  Istanbul  :  Day Trips

This tour begins with a visit to Topkapi Palace including the jewellery section. Continue to Little Hagia Sophia Mosque, one of the most important early Byzantine buildings in Istanbul.This tour begins with a visit to Topkapi Palace including the jewellery section, the former imperial residence from where the Great Ottoman Empire was ruled. Today the palace is a spectacular museum with, amongst other exhibitions, one of the largest collections of Chinese, Japanese and European porcelain. Continue to Little Hagia Sophia - this Byzantine building with a central dome plan was erected in the sixth century by Justinian, likely was a model for Hagia Sophia (St. Sophia) and is one of the most important early Byzantine buildings in Istanbul. It was recognized at the time as an adornment to the entire city and a modern historian of the East Roman Empire has written that the church, “by the originality of its architecture and the sumptuousness of its carved decoration, ranks in Constantinople second only to St. Sophia itself”.
Please note: Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays, this will be replaced with a Bosphorus Cruise