John 1 · 8 days · Istanbul – Istanbul

The Creed – Bible Tour to Constantinople, Chalcedon and Nicaea

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”John 1:14

8 days7 nights

IstanbulStart

IstanbulEnd

Price on requestPrice

Reading path Enquire →

Whoever recites the Creed in a worship service speaks words that were wrestled over in three places around the Sea of Marmara. This journey takes you there: to Constantinople, to Chalcedon on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus and to Nicaea on Lake İznik. The question was always the same – who is Jesus Christ, and who is the Spirit he promised to his disciples?

In Istanbul you stand beneath Justinian’s dome, in the lofty, austere space of Hagia Irene with its apse cross, and before the images of the Chora. At the Phanar you visit the church of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and on the Princes’ Islands the Theological School of Halki and the Monastery of St George. By city ferry you cross over to Kadıköy, where the Council of Chalcedon convened in 451.

In İznik, walls, gates and the basilica submerged in the lake show what the city of the councils looked like; on the shore you recite the Creed together – in the version your congregation uses. Bursa and its Koza Han lead you into the landscape of Bithynia, which according to Acts 16:7 Paul was not permitted to enter. A state-licensed tour guide sets the history of the councils and the archaeology in context; Christians of all denominations are welcome.

The Bible reading path

Passages you will read on site

Heb 13:8Istanbul (welcome evening)

The same Christ yesterday and today – he was the focus of all the councils.

John 1:14Hagia Sophia

The Word was made flesh – read after the visit to the Deësis mosaic.

John 14:26Hagia Irene

The Comforter whom the Father will send teaches the disciples and brings all things to their remembrance.

John 15:26Hagia Irene

The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father – the foundation of the Council of 381.

John 17:20–23Phanar

Jesus’ prayer for the unity of those who believe through the word of the apostles.

Eph 4:4–6Bulgarian St Stephen’s Church

One body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Phil 2:5–11Kadıköy (Chalcedon)

The Christ hymn: in the form of God, and yet in the form of a servant.

John 1:1–14İznik (basilica in the lake)

The prologue of John, the heart of the debate of 325.

1 Cor 15:3–5İznik (lakeshore)

A confession that Paul himself had already received and passed on.

Acts 16:6–10Drive through Bithynia

The Spirit bars the way into Bithynia and points towards Europe.

1 Pet 1:1–2Bursa

The greeting to the strangers scattered abroad – among them the Christians of Bithynia.

2 Tim 2:2Bursa (view of Uludağ)

What has been received is entrusted to faithful people.

Matt 16:13–18Büyükada

Peter’s confession and the promise for the Church.

Psalm 133Istanbul (closing devotion)

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Tip: bring your own Bible – at each place we open the relevant passage together.
Bible quotations: King James Version.

Day by day

Itinerary

Day1

Arrival in Istanbul – Constantine’s city on the Bosphorus

Istanbul Airport → Istanbul

Your tour guide meets you at Istanbul Airport and accompanies you to the Old City on the historic peninsula between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. Here Emperor Constantine dedicated his new capital in the year 330, and from here the councils were convened whose decisions are still spoken in the churches today. A first walk leads through Sultanahmet, past the dome of Hagia Sophia and across the square of the ancient Hippodrome. In the evening you gather for the welcome; your tour guide presents the route, the councils and the key texts. To begin, a word from the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” It was over this Christ that the Fathers wrestled at Nicaea, Constantinople and Chalcedon.

Heb 13:8Overnight: Istanbul

Day2

Hagia Sophia and Hagia Irene – the Council of 381

Hippodrome → Hagia Sophia → Cistern → Hagia Irene

The day begins at the Hippodrome, where the obelisk stands that Theodosius I had erected in the year 390 – the emperor who convened the Council of Constantinople in 381. Then you enter Hagia Sophia, Justinian’s domed church of 537. Since 2020 it has once again been a mosque; visitors come outside prayer times and are currently guided through the galleries, where the Deësis mosaic shows Christ between Mary and John. Outside you read: “The Word was made flesh.” After the Basilica Cistern, the way leads into the first courtyard of Topkapı Palace to Hagia Irene, the Church of Divine Peace. On its site the Council of 381 confessed the Spirit “which proceedeth from the Father” – words from John 15:26. The simple apse cross dates from the time of Iconoclasm.

John 1:14John 14:26John 15:26Overnight: Istanbul

Day3

Chora, Land Walls and Phanar – living Orthodoxy

Chora → Land Walls → Balat → Phanar

Early in the morning you visit the Chora, whose images Theodore Metochites commissioned around 1315–1321. The mosaics of the narthexes tell the life of Jesus according to the Gospels and the life of Mary according to the Protoevangelium of James, an extra-biblical writing of the 2nd century; in the funerary chapel the risen Christ pulls Adam and Eve from their tombs. The Chora is a mosque today and is visited outside prayer times. Right next to it you stand at the Land Walls of 413. On foot you descend to Balat and the iron St Stephen’s Church of the Bulgarians, which recalls Ephesians 4: one Lord, one faith, one baptism. At the Phanar you visit the church of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the relics of Gregory of Nazianzus. The evening is devoted to Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his disciples.

Eph 4:4–6John 17:20–23Overnight: Istanbul

Day4

Across the Bosphorus to Chalcedon – and on to Nicaea

Istanbul → Kadıköy (Chalcedon) → İznik

In the morning the city ferry takes you from Eminönü to Kadıköy in just under half an hour; behind you, Topkapı and Hagia Sophia recede. Kadıköy is ancient Chalcedon, which according to Herodotus was founded by settlers who overlooked the better site opposite – which is why the Persian Megabazus called them “blind”. Here in 451 the Fourth Council met in the Basilica of St Euphemia, of which nothing remains. It confessed Christ as truly God and truly man, without confusion and without separation. On the Moda headland you read the Christ hymn from Philippians 2. Then the coach travels via Gebze and the Osmangazi Bridge to Bithynia. In the afternoon you reach İznik on the shore of its lake, and in the evening a discussion introduces the controversy of 325.

Phil 2:5–11Overnight: İznik

Day5

Nicaea – the Creed recited together

İznik → Bursa

Through the Istanbul Gate with its Roman triumphal arch you enter old Nicaea, whose ring of walls still largely stands. In the city’s Hagia Sophia the Seventh Council confirmed the veneration of icons in 787; today it is a mosque. Where the First Council met in 325 is not known for certain – tradition names the imperial palace by the lake. On the shore lie the foundations of a basilica discovered in the shallow water in 2014; whether it is connected with the council remains an open question. Here you read the prologue of John, which was upheld against Arius in 325, and, if you wish, recite the Creed together. In the afternoon you drive to Bursa through Bithynia, which Paul was not permitted to enter and whose Christians are greeted in the First Epistle of Peter.

John 1:1–141 Cor 15:3–5Acts 16:6–101 Pet 1:1–2Overnight: Bursa

Day6

Bursa – Prusa on the Bithynian Olympus

Bursa → Istanbul

On the castle hill of Tophane stand the tombs of Osman and Orhan, the first rulers of the Ottoman Empire; Orhan’s tomb rises above the remains of a Byzantine church. You visit the Ulu Cami with its twenty domes outside prayer times, and then the Koza Han of 1491, the city’s historic silk han with its quiet courtyard. Above Bursa rises Uludağ, the Bithynian Olympus. On its slopes many monks lived in the Middle Ages, among them Methodius, who later, with his brother Cyril, gave the Slavs the Gospels in their own language. On the return journey to Istanbul you read Paul’s word to Timothy about passing on what one has received – and so the Creed, too, was handed down from generation to generation.

2 Tim 2:2Overnight: Istanbul

Day7

Princes’ Islands – Halki and the Monastery of St George

Istanbul → Heybeliada → Büyükada → Istanbul

From Kabataş the ferry takes about an hour to reach the Princes’ Islands, where no private cars have been allowed for more than a hundred years. In Byzantine times princes and empresses were banished here. On Heybeliada, the Greek Halki, the Patriarchate’s Theological School stands on the Hill of the Holy Trinity; founded in 1844, it has been closed under Turkish law since 1971, and many bishops of the Orthodox Church studied here. After a short crossing you climb steeply on Büyükada to the Monastery of St George on Yücetepe. With the view over the Sea of Marmara you read Peter’s confession and the promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church. In the evening, at the farewell dinner, you give thanks with Psalm 133 for the fellowship of these days.

Matt 16:13–18Psalm 133Overnight: Istanbul

Day8

Departure from Istanbul

Istanbul → Istanbul Airport

Depending on your flight time, there is still time in the morning for a last walk through the Old City or down to the shore of the Golden Horn. Then the transfer takes you to Istanbul Airport. You take with you what has come together in these days: the Word made flesh beneath the dome of Hagia Sophia, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father in Hagia Irene, the Christ hymn at Chalcedon and the common confession by the lake of Nicaea. The blessing with which Paul closes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians names Father, Son and Spirit in a single breath. If you would like to stay longer, you can extend with the Seven Churches of Revelation or with beach days on the Aegean.

2 Cor 13:14

The route

On the map

1Istanbul Airport2Istanbul (Constantinople)3Kadıköy (Chalcedon)4İznik (Nicaea)5Bursa6Princes’ Islands

Inclusions & price

What the tour price includes

Price on request

The tour price depends on dates, group size and room allocation. You will receive your personal offer – free of charge and without obligation.

Enquire →

⛔ No shopping stops: carpet, jewellery or leather showrooms are not part of this tour.

Included

7 nights in good mid-range and 4-star hotels with half board
All journeys by air-conditioned coach, airport transfers in Istanbul
Ferries to Kadıköy and to the Princes’ Islands
State-licensed tour guide
Entrance fees as per programme
Welcome and farewell evening

Not included

Flights
Lunches and drinks
Tips
Travel insurance
Personal expenses

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Can Hagia Sophia and the Chora be visited?

Yes. Both are mosques today and are visited outside prayer times; women wear a headscarf, and knees and shoulders are covered. They are closed to visitors at Friday midday and during prayers – we plan the programme accordingly.

Will the Creed be recited together?

Yes, if you wish – in İznik on the shore of the lake, in the version your congregation uses. Services or devotions in churches are possible with permission.

Can the Ecumenical Patriarchate be visited?

The patriarchal Church of St George is usually open during the day. A meeting with representatives of the Patriarchate can be arranged by prior agreement, but cannot be guaranteed.

How strenuous is the tour?

Many routes are covered on foot, partly over cobblestones and stairs. The climb to the Monastery of St George on Büyükada is steep; a normal level of fitness is sufficient.

When is the best time to travel?

The tour is possible all year round; the most pleasant months are April to June and September to November. In high summer Istanbul is hot and very crowded.

Is the flight included in the tour price?

No. You fly to Istanbul and back, usually direct from most major European airports. On request we can look for a suitable connection for you.

How much does the tour cost?

The price depends on the date, group size and room allocation. After your enquiry you will receive a personal quotation – free of charge and without obligation.

In which language is the tour guided?

A state-licensed tour guide accompanies you – in your language or in one of 25 languages. We have been guiding guests since 1989.

Enquiry & booking

Enquire about this tour

The Creed – Bible Tour to Constantinople, Chalcedon and Nicaea

The Creed – Bible Tour to Constantinople, Chalcedon and Nicaea

Passages you will read on site

Itinerary

Arrival in Istanbul – Constantine’s city on the Bosphorus

Hagia Sophia and Hagia Irene – the Council of 381

Chora, Land Walls and Phanar – living Orthodoxy

Across the Bosphorus to Chalcedon – and on to Nicaea

Nicaea – the Creed recited together

Bursa – Prusa on the Bithynian Olympus

Princes’ Islands – Halki and the Monastery of St George

Departure from Istanbul

On the map

What the tour price includes

Price on request

Included

Not included

Frequently asked questions

Enquire about this tour

You might also like

Istanbul: Rome, Byzantium, Ottomans

Letters and Councils

Around the Sea of Marmara