The Chora Church.

We saw Judith off to the airport in a taxi and took a bus to the Chora Church.

On the way our bus passed under the Valens Aqueduct, a Roman aqueduct which was the major water-providing system of Constantinople.

The Chora Church, or Kariye started as a Christian church dating back to about 1100. It was converted to a mosque in Ottoman times. The mosaics and frescoes were whitewashed over and remained hidden until the late 1940's when they were restored and it was made into a museum. This buttress once held up the church, but because of sinking, the church now holds up the buttress.

The walls and ceilings are covered with wonderful Byzantine mosaics. In this one Mary and Joseph enrolling for taxation.

One chapel is decorated entirely with frescoes. This is the Last Judgment.

Lunch nearby was at a recommended restaurant called Asitane, serving classical Ottoman cuisine. The outside courtyard was lovely.

Actually the food was fairly ordinary.

After lunch we walked by the old 5th Century Walls of Constantine down to the Golden Horn, the inlet from the Sea of Marama. We climbed the wall here for a wonderful view.

Bill, looking terrified and climbed down again. The stairs are very steep and dodgy.

Outside the walls you can see the huge hexagonal towers (185 in total) along the wall, which runs down to connect with the sea walls of the Golden Horn. As additional security, the Byzantines sealed off the Golden Horn to enemy vessels by stretching a thick chain across it's entrance.

Once we reached the Golden Horn we took the ferry back to the Galata Bridge.

This is the Transport Museum sited along the way.

There is a ferry stop at the museum, but we were out of time to hop off.

Back at the ferry terminal with New Mosque or Yeni Camii in the background. Well, it was new when it was completed by the Ottomans in 1663!