Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

Mosaics | BYELIKOVA OKSANA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Outbuildings Exit the inner narthex through the Beautiful Gate , a magnificent bronze gate dating from the 2nd century BC. This originally adorned a pagan temple in Tarsus and was brought to İstanbul by Emperor Theophilos in 838. As you reach the gate, be sure to look back to admire the 10th-century mosaic of Constantine the Great, the Virgin Mary and the Emperor Justinian on the lunette of the inner doorway. Constantine (right) is offering the Virgin, who holds the Christ Child, the city of İstanbul; Justinian (left) is offering her Aya Sofya. The doorway to your left just after the Beautiful Gate leads into a small courtyard that was once part of a 6th-century baptistry . In the 17th century the baptistry was converted into a tomb for Sultans Mustafa I and İbrahim I. The huge stone basin displayed in the courtyard is the original font .