Thursday, October 22, 2015

Treasures in Istanbul's Hagia Sophia

Greetings my friends.  If you recall, back in June I visited Istanbul, Turkey.  I shared with you some photos from that trip.  At that time, I mentioned that I would share more photos at a later time.  I'm a little bit late in posting this but I hope it may be something you will enjoy seeing.

Hagia Sophia was constructed as an Byzantine orthodox church beginning in 537 and until 1453 served as the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople.  From 1453 until 1931 it served as a mosque.  In 1935 it was opened up as a museum.  It is quite fascinating to see this magnificent building that holds treasures from both religions.

This is a mosaic that is located on the second floor of the museum.  On the left is the Virgin Mary with Christ in the center and St. John the Baptist (forerunner) on the right. To this day, you will find this same icon in present day orthodox iconostasis.

Here is a placard describing the mosaic pictured above ...

And here is a picture showing how the mosaic would have looked like in it's original state ...

Another mosaic in the museum showing Christ and I believe the other two are Ss. Constantine and Helen ...

Again, on the second floor of the Hagia Sophia there is a marble divider/door.  In this picture you can see the cross design in the marble* ...

I thought I had a better picture than this but this is one of the doors of this magnificent building.  There is a raised horizontal bar on the door.  If you look closely, you can see there there would have been a vertical bar too at one time forming a cross.  Sorry for the poor picture.


Here is a picture of the interior of the Hagia Sophia.  The scaffolding is still in place due to the ongoing restorations.  Can you see the magnificent calligraphy from the time it served as a mosque?

Here's another view without the scaffolding...

The area around the Hagia Sophia is so beautiful with fountains and a beautiful park area which leads to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque aka Blue Mosque ...

On this trip I did have the opportunity to go inside the Blue Mosque.  The admission is free, however you are asked to wear a long robe/head covering before entering (that's me with the sunglasses) ...

The architecture inside the mosque is quite amazing ...

This is a photo of the artistic tiles in the ceiling ...

This was my second visit to this area and if I return to Istanbul one day, I will visit again.  The area is very well maintained and very tourist friendly.  There is a clean, well maintained, small bazaar area next to the Blue Mosque.  And, there are some great restaurants too in the area.

Notes:
1.  Hagia Sophia means "Holy Wisdom in Greek"
2.  Byzantine "of or relating to Byzantine Empire" i.e., Eastern Roman Empire
3.  Iconostasis is "a screen of written icons separating the nave from the sanctuary in an orthodox church".
4.   Patriarchate of Constantinople is in modern day Istanbul and the current Patriarch is  Bartholomew I.
5.   The Blue Mosque was built between 1609 and 1617 and has six marinets.  

Speaking of Turkey, I will be returning again.  This time to a town in the south of Turkey on the mediterranean.  We are now officially Turkish homeowners after purchasing a home there this past summer.  It will be a fun time (I hope) putting the house together and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Antalya province.  I will keep you posted.

Until next time, my best wishes to you,

Pat

Linking up with:
Five Star Frou-Frou ...
Amy at Five on Friday ...

33 comments:

  1. Hi Pat. We visited Istanbul this June just gone too! We were cruising with Norwegian, and adored Turkey. No visit to Hagia Sophia or The Blue Mosque. We explored the Spice Market instead, and loved it. Thankyou for the lovely tour. I feel like I've been there now! Please come and share at Five Star Frou-Frou this week? Love, Mimi xxx

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    1. Hi Mimi, I might have seen your ship in port! The spice market is so much fun. I've linked to your party this week. Thank you for inviting me. Hugs, Pat xx

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  2. Good luck with your new Turkish home, you will be able to explore even more. The mosque looks beautiful. :-)

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    1. Thank you so much. I wish my photography skills were as good as yours. Have a great weekend :)

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  3. Congratulations on your new home. Beautiful pictures, you took us on a lovely tour. Have a great weekend.

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    1. Many thanks. I wish you a wonderful weekend, too :)

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  4. Istanbul looks like a fascinating play to visit. I enjoyed seeing all your photos.

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    1. Thank you Linda for stopping by for a visit. Wishing you the best.

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  5. How wonderful, such beautiful photos:)

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    1. Many thanks Rosie. I'm happy you enjoyed reading my post.

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  6. Hi Pat,

    Visiting you today via Mimi's meme, where your link of Hagia Sophia caught my eye. I am Greek-Canadian and was living on the island of Crete for over 26 years, having recently relocated to my hometown of Toronto, Canada. I would love to visit Turkey one day, too, especially to see Hagia Sophia, as well as some of the other sections of Constantinople, which were originally built by my ancestors. Your photos are lovely and I appreciated the interesting description of them.

    Thanks for sharing and hope you have a wonderful weekend.

    Poppy

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    1. Hi Poppy, how fascinating to live on the island of Crete. I have never visited Crete but it's on my to do list. You would surely enjoy Hagia Sophia and the ties to the Byzantine era. It's probably my favorite place to visit of all the places I've seen as it holds so much history. Thank you for visiting today. My best to you :)

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  7. It looks like a fascinating place, Pat. Funnily enough, I was talking to a friend earlier in the week who is off to Istanbul this weekend and said it was one of those places that everyone should go to see. I've never been there, but it's on the list now! xx

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    1. Hi Christine, yes, Istanbul is probably my new favorite city. It still has the old along with the new and it's a clean city, too. I am going to pop over to your blog now and say "hello". Wishing you the best for the weekend, hugs, Pat xx

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    1. So nice to hear from you Marie. Have a great day.

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  9. How wonderful you now have a home in Turkey. We lived in Izmir for 2 years and loved it. Have always hoped to revisit some day.

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    1. Thank you for visiting today. I would love to visit Izmir. Next year we're suppose to go to Ephesus. Hopefully, we will explore more of the Turkish coastline. Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Pat xx

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  10. What a fascinating visit to take with you today! It was well worth the wait as it was so interesting to read and find out more. I hope that you enjoy your new holiday home a lot! Thank you for joining Five On Friday. I hope that you have a great weekend! xx

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    1. Thank you Amy. It's always fun to join in with Five on Friday. The weekend is good but it's still too warm down here in southern California. Wishing you the best. Pat xx

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  11. How exiting, a house in Turkey! My godmother owns a flat near Fethyie and I love going there. I find Turkey such a friendly country to visit. I have been to Istanbul when I was 10 and 11 (my godmother used to live there) and I still remember it well. Such an interesting city to visit, I really enjoyed seeing your photos, thank you.

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    1. Hi Christina, so nice to hear from you. I'm sure you have seen a lot more of Turkey than me but as you said, it is a very friendly country to visit. I'm looking forward to exploring and finding more interesting places. Thank you for your kind words. Take care, Pat xx

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  12. An amazing building with so much beauty inside and out!
    thanks for educating me today!
    How exciting to be setting up a new home in Turkey!

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    1. And, thank you Christine for visiting my blog and for your nice comment. I hope you are enjoying your weekend :)

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  13. Loved this post Pat. I love history and ancient buildings. I'm fascinated by all religions too. I'm sad to think that close by in Turkey in Syria we are loosing out historic treasures though. A Turkish homeowner how exotic. Enjoy every moment. X

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    1. Thank you Selma. I agree with you about the problems in the neighboring country. It's very sad. I will let you know how it goes with setting up the house. There's lots to do. Enjoy your weekend :) Pat xx

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  14. What wonderful pictures! Istanbul looks fascinating... beautiful architecture and designs. Wishing you all the best with your new home! Have a wonderful weekend :)

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    1. Thank you so much Deb. It will be an adventure for us! My best to you :)

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  15. Just incredibly beautiful photos Pat -and great info. So interesting and I love seeing different architecture from around the world. So cool!
    Thanks for sharing. Have a lovely weekend! xo

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  16. Beautiful post Pat! I love seeing such amazing architecture and really enjoyed a trip to Italy a few years ago for this very reason. We have nothing to compare here in Canada. Congratulations on your new home! Such an exciting endeavour :)
    Wendy

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  17. Wonderful images and history of somewhere I've never been !

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  18. Pat, thanks for sharing at Five Star Frou-Frou. Will you join me again this week? Mimi xxx

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  19. How fascinating, thank you for sharing that! And how exciting that you now own a house in Turkey. That will be fun to follow for your readers everywhere.

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