Constantinople: Witnessing the Vanishing City

What to Expect

You will see:

• Excavations of the Great Imperial Palace (5th-6th centuries)
• Column of Constantine, erected on May 11, 330 AD
• Remnants of the walls of the ancient Hippodrome. I will also show you where to see the tribune bench of the Hippodrome and a fragment of the entrance portal.
• A 5th-century private house that archaeologists have not been allowed to explore and that may soon be destroyed
• A miraculously surviving part of the Great Palace building and the ruins of an ancient church that travelers and locals pass by without even realizing what they are
• 5th-century underground cisterns with ancient columns, where there are no tourist crowds, and you can calmly feel the atmosphere of these places
• Little-known two-story halls of palace buildings, now hidden beneath shops, cafes, and hotels. We will try to descend there. These are secure areas that are not museums and belong to private property, so access is not always possible.
• Private historical artifacts displayed in the lobby of a hotel
• The facade of the magnificent Bucoleon Palace and the lighthouse tower on the edge of the Sea of Marmara
• Remnants of the walls of Nikephoros Phokas from the 10th century
• Ancient Church of Sergius and Bacchus—works of the architects who created the grand Hagia Sophia
• An abandoned building in the heart of Istanbul on the site of an ancient church
• A 15th-century mosque built from the stones of a famous 9th-century church

Stories from the Life of Constantinople

• You will learn about the district that was considered the most prestigious 1000 years ago, how the city was built and evolved, where palace buildings were moved, and which areas were abandoned even before the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
• I will tell you the story of a Byzantine emperor whose fate intertwined with the plots of the Count of Monte Cristo, Don Juan, Robin Hood, and even almost evangelical plots.
• We will also discuss the adventurous life and crimes of a Byzantine empress—daughter of a innkeeper and the mother-in-law of the Kievan prince.
• You will walk the same paths as Princess Olga during her state visit to Constantinople in the autumn of 946 AD.
• You will find out who founded the three most famous Constantinople churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary and why. We will find the location of one of these churches forgotten during the Ottoman period.
• I will show you where the chapel with the icon of Christ the Protector stood, a place connected with a very amusing story widely known in the city 1000 years ago.
• On weekdays, we can visit a private branch of the Archaeological Museum (free of charge).
• And we will walk the route of the ancient Palace passageway—now a gallery with souvenir shops, textiles, ceramics, and carpets.