Istanbul City Walls and the Cora Church

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Today, I went exploring Istanbul by myself. I started at the 1453 Panorama Museum, which is near the old city walls and depicts the fall of Istanbul when the Ottoman Turks took it over from the Byzantine Empire. The best feature of the museum is that the panorama depicts the battle raging at the walls from the viewpoint that can be seen of the walls and city from right where the museum sits. Then I walked outside and was able to spend some time wandering along the walls themselves. It was so neat to see things that old. Then I took a taxi to the Cora Church, which is a small church from the Byzantine Era with mosaics filling every possible space. After that, I went back out and finally walked up on top of a section of the walls, which provided a great view of the city.

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Photos

1453 Panorama Museum
It's near the city walls, so you see outside what's depicted in the panorama inside. Pretty cool!

1453 Panorama Museum
The museum is to the left of the picture.

Cora Church from the front
I had lunch - chicken kebabs, bulgar rice, and some sort of little salad - at the little cafe in front of the church. It was probably overpriced (not too bad, though), but the setting was nice!

Turkish coffee
It's in a little cup 'cause it's thick, and the grounds are still in the bottom. I had been warned about the grounds in the bottom beforehand, but somehow forgot and still drank it down too far!

Mosaic
I believe it is Constantine that's depicted here bowing to Mary and Jesus.

The baptism and temptations of Christ
Look closely: can you see Satan depicted in three spots (one for each temptation)?

The death of Mary
She is surrounded by the apostles, including Paul, who is sitting at her feet, and John, in the front left corner.