The Byzantine Heritage Pass will grant you free access to the 4 locations listed here. To visit the Hagia Sophia Mosque, the The Basilica Cistern, the Hagia Irene Museum and the Serefiye Cistern you must join guided tours which start at different meeting points.
The pass is valid for 2 days.
Hagia Sophia: Church, Mosque and Museum tour
Welcome to Hagia Sophia, where 1500 years of Christian and Islamic history can be seen side-by-side. Once the great cathedral of Constantinople and later an imperial mosque of the Ottoman Empire, this former centre of worship for Christians and Muslims is now a unique museum for the world. Meet your guide at the main bus stop for the Big Bus Tour Company at Sultanahmet Square. Look out for the dark red double-decker buses. It's about 20 metres (65 ft) in front of the Hagia Sophia Museum. Be at the meeting point to meet your guide 15 minutes before the starting time.
The Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul. Visit the Underground Palace (Yerebatan Saray), as it was known by the Ottomans, and experience the wonder of the vast cistern for yourself. Meet your guide at the main bus stop for the Big Bus Tour Company at Sultanahmet Square. Look out for the dark red double-decker buses. It's about 20 metres (65 ft) in front of the Hagia Sophia Museum. Be at the meeting point to meet your guide 15 minutes before the starting time.
Hagia Irene Museum
Hagia Irene or Holy Peace, was a Greek Eastern Orthodox church built under the orders of Emperor Constantine I over the ruins of a pagan temple as the first church in Constantinople. It served as the church of the Patriarchate until the Hagia Sophia basilica was built.
The tour starts in front of the entrance of the Carpet Museum (Halı Müzesi), outside of the Topkapı Palace. Be at the meeting point to meet your guide 15 minutes before the starting time.
Serefiye Cistern: The oldest underground cistern in Istanbul
The Serefiye Cistern is also known as the Theodosius Cistern after the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II who had it built between 428 and 443 to store fresh water for the city. Meet your guide at the main bus stop for the Big Bus Tour Company at Sultanahmet Square. Look out for the dark red double-decker buses. It's about 20 metres (65 ft) in front of the Hagia Sophia Museum. Be at the meeting point to meet your guide 15 minutes before the starting time.
Entrance fees
Hotel pick-up and drop-off
