Two churches in Istanbul. Aya Yorgi Church has no online ticket listed; Chora Church has 2 tickets and tours to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
The Monastery of Saint George, Aya Yorgi, stands on Yücetepe, the highest hill of Büyükada, the largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, off the Asian shore of Istanbul, Turkey, and entry is free, with donations welcome. It is a Greek Orthodox monastery under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and it is visited not only by Christians but also by many Turkish Muslims and people of other faiths, who come to make wishes. Ferries run to Büyükada from Kabataş, Eminönü and Bostancı, taking about an hour to an hour and a half, and there are no private cars on the island;
The Chora reopened in 2024 as a working mosque after four years of restoration, and the arrangement has changed: entry is by ticket for visitors, free for worshippers, with the ticket sold at the door and online. Audio guide apps cover the mosaics and are worth having, because nothing is labelled. Guided tours of the Fatih district include the Chora and cost several times the ticket, usually adding the Byzantine walls, the Balat quarter and sometimes the Galata tower;
