Balat is a down-to-earth neighborhood of narrow cobbled streets and colorful houses, where hip cafes and cutting-edge galleries sit next to old-school neighborhood grocers. Buildings like the Greek Ecumenical Patriarchate basilica, synagogues, and Byzantine churches attest to the area’s cosmopolitan past as a center for Jewish, Greek, and Armenian communities. The Chora Museum has golden mosaics and vibrant frescoes.