Istanbul - Post #3 The Hagia Sophia

So much to see in Istanbul! Here is another post! We learned that if we were going to miss the huge buses of tour groups for some of the big things we would need to get there really early. So it was with Hagia Sophia. It is located across from the "Blue" Mosque which makes it quite a picture from the water (you'll have to look at a later Istanbul post for that one!).

It doesn't seem like much from here but it's bigger than the mosque so it's quite impressive. Here is a picture of it from right in front to get more of an idea.

So, the Hagia Sophia is considered by many to be the "eighth" wonder of the world. It was completed in 537 as a church, then it was converted into an imperial mosque in 1453 and stayed a mosque until 1931. It became a museum in 1935. What you see now is the third building of the Hagia Sophia. When it became a mosque many of the mosaics were either removed or plastered over. The whole building has been under reconstruction since it was reopened as a museum to carefully repair what has been covered. In the next pictures you will see what I felt was a fascinating combination of Roman Catholic and Ottoman Muslim art in a classically Byzantine building.

Delaney and I entering the building.

We come around the corner and see the main sanctuary. Only half was open to the public. The other half was behind this huge wall of scaffolding. It was quite dark in the upper areas of the room since the lighting was so low.

Towards the front of the room you can see the mosaic that was plastered over of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

On either side of Mary were these really interesting looking angels who had their wings closed to apparently protecting the throne of heaven I found them quite fascinating but of course, the lighting was really bad.

Here, you see the alter where a priest would be during services.

Right next to it is the alter is the minbar where the imam would stand to deliver sermons. I found it interesting that they were both there.

On our way out the door we saw this mirror up above that made us turn around. What a beautiful mosaic this was!

 We then left the building thinking that we hadn't see it all. We must have missed something! Around the corner we saw these water spigots coming out of the building. It was interesting to find out that this is where people would come to find fresh water when it was a church but then when is was converted into a mosque many would cleanse themselves here prior to entering the mosque. I'm assuming it was still available for fresh water.

 

We went back in only to find a side door that took us upstairs. Wow! I'm glad we didn't miss it!

The view was breathtaking!

Look at how small the people are. This gives you an idea of how huge this building is!

There were mosaics they were in the process of uncovering. This one you weren't allow to take a picture with a flash.

I went around the corner only to see an up close of picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus above the alter. I figure I was far enough away to use a flash and yes, I got yelled at but I sure did get a nice picture.

 Here is Janna taking her turn with the hole in the column. Just like in the Basilica Cistern, if you can get your hand all the way around your wish comes true! It was a stretch for her!