The Hagia Sofia of Constantinople | Istanbul, Turkey
The first touristy thing I did in Istanbul when I was there last year in May was to visit the Hagia Sofia (Aya Sofia | Ἁγία Σοφία | Sancta Sapientia | Ayasofya). I really didn’t know what to expect. I have seen pictures of how beautiful it is. I have also heard it is going to be crowded but nothing prepared me when I arrived at the scene.
I was welcomed by a very long line that almost reached the gardens of Sultanahmet Park. There were many tour groups and you can see them with their flags waving. It was a bit of a chaos. I didn’t know where to fall in line? Is this the line to pay or to get inside? My gut feel told me not to fall in line and just go inside the gate. I did and then I found the self-service ticket machine which you can either pay in cash or with a credit card.
After paying I managed to squeeze myself into the chaotic mob of visitors. There is security so everyone entering the Hagia Sofia premises will have to go through a scan. The next thing I know I am inside the church museum’s grounds. That was such a relief!
Trivia: Did you know that the Hagia Sofia was originally an Orthodox Catholic Church in the 6th A.D.? Then it was reformed for a short time into a Roman Catholic Church and then back to Orthodox. When Constantinople fell in the 15th century to the hands of the Ottomans, it was converted into an imperial mosque. Many centuries later, when Turkey became a republic in 1935, the Ataturk changed it into a museum which is what it is today.
Until now there are Catholic and Islamic religion freedom parties demanding the conversion of the Hagia Sofia back into a Catholic Church or a Mosque.
The name Hagia Sofia means ‘Holy Wisdom’. The structure is considered as the epitome of Byzantine architecture. When I think of Byzantine, I think of the dark days in our history that ends in death. This period arose after the fall of Rome, and the continuation of the Roman Empire in Constantinople, now modern-day Istanbul.
Frankly speaking, I have never been a big fan of Byzantine architecture, but I have to study this for my History of Art class in college. I find the style too somber, somewhat opaque and strangely uncanny. When I see the mosaic compositions, thoughts and feelings of mischief, treachery and wrath just come up. Could it be the dark choice of colours? The simpler and geometrical design? Perhaps it is the rough period Byzantine represents that has something to do with it, which probably is what I am getting through.
The Hagia Sofia building later on served as an inspiration for the design and construction of the Blue Mosque which you can see across on the Sultanahamet Park. Both buildings are facing each other, which if you may want to interpret it, could be a respectful truce between Christianity and Islam. In the later years, Hagia Sofia became the catalyst for the many dome-inspired mosques we now see in the skyline of Istanbul over the Bosphorus.
It was very crowded inside the church with large group tours elbowing their way to the central spot right under the spectacular dome. Everyone was engrossed, all necks and heads up admiring the amazing nave, the frescoes uncovered after its restoration and the Islamic annotations on the columns, reminding visitors that the building both served as a Catholic patriarch and as an imperial mosque.
Restoration is still in progress when I was there so it was not always that easy to get a good panoramic picture of the interior without managing to include some scaffoldings. Major restoration of the building though has been done in the last decades which I am sure was very challenging and expensive.
As I walked on the cold, stone-slabbed corridors of the gallery, passing by the gargantuan columns, I think about the bloodshed that has happened inside this church when the Ottomans invaded the city. Many elderly, the crippled and sickly, women and their children were hiding in here. The elderly, crippled and sickly were slaughtered. Whilst the women and girls were violated and raped. Others were sold to slavery. It’s a very barbaric and merciless past. But when I think of what is happening in our soceity today, the manifestations of barbarism have not really stopped, hasn’t it? It just morphed into a new genre.
You’d wonder if the violence would ever stop. I am afraid it never will. As long as man lives.
Travel Period: May 2015
Destination: Fatih (Istanbul - Marmara), Turkey
Keep in touch and follow me on Facebook: Travel & Lifestyle Diaries by Dutched Pinay Travels
Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
I was welcomed by a very long line that almost reached the gardens of Sultanahmet Park. There were many tour groups and you can see them with their flags waving. It was a bit of a chaos. I didn’t know where to fall in line? Is this the line to pay or to get inside? My gut feel told me not to fall in line and just go inside the gate. I did and then I found the self-service ticket machine which you can either pay in cash or with a credit card.
After paying I managed to squeeze myself into the chaotic mob of visitors. There is security so everyone entering the Hagia Sofia premises will have to go through a scan. The next thing I know I am inside the church museum’s grounds. That was such a relief!
Trivia: Did you know that the Hagia Sofia was originally an Orthodox Catholic Church in the 6th A.D.? Then it was reformed for a short time into a Roman Catholic Church and then back to Orthodox. When Constantinople fell in the 15th century to the hands of the Ottomans, it was converted into an imperial mosque. Many centuries later, when Turkey became a republic in 1935, the Ataturk changed it into a museum which is what it is today.
Until now there are Catholic and Islamic religion freedom parties demanding the conversion of the Hagia Sofia back into a Catholic Church or a Mosque.
The name Hagia Sofia means ‘Holy Wisdom’. The structure is considered as the epitome of Byzantine architecture. When I think of Byzantine, I think of the dark days in our history that ends in death. This period arose after the fall of Rome, and the continuation of the Roman Empire in Constantinople, now modern-day Istanbul.
Frankly speaking, I have never been a big fan of Byzantine architecture, but I have to study this for my History of Art class in college. I find the style too somber, somewhat opaque and strangely uncanny. When I see the mosaic compositions, thoughts and feelings of mischief, treachery and wrath just come up. Could it be the dark choice of colours? The simpler and geometrical design? Perhaps it is the rough period Byzantine represents that has something to do with it, which probably is what I am getting through.
The Hagia Sofia building later on served as an inspiration for the design and construction of the Blue Mosque which you can see across on the Sultanahamet Park. Both buildings are facing each other, which if you may want to interpret it, could be a respectful truce between Christianity and Islam. In the later years, Hagia Sofia became the catalyst for the many dome-inspired mosques we now see in the skyline of Istanbul over the Bosphorus.
It was very crowded inside the church with large group tours elbowing their way to the central spot right under the spectacular dome. Everyone was engrossed, all necks and heads up admiring the amazing nave, the frescoes uncovered after its restoration and the Islamic annotations on the columns, reminding visitors that the building both served as a Catholic patriarch and as an imperial mosque.
Restoration is still in progress when I was there so it was not always that easy to get a good panoramic picture of the interior without managing to include some scaffoldings. Major restoration of the building though has been done in the last decades which I am sure was very challenging and expensive.
As I walked on the cold, stone-slabbed corridors of the gallery, passing by the gargantuan columns, I think about the bloodshed that has happened inside this church when the Ottomans invaded the city. Many elderly, the crippled and sickly, women and their children were hiding in here. The elderly, crippled and sickly were slaughtered. Whilst the women and girls were violated and raped. Others were sold to slavery. It’s a very barbaric and merciless past. But when I think of what is happening in our soceity today, the manifestations of barbarism have not really stopped, hasn’t it? It just morphed into a new genre.
You’d wonder if the violence would ever stop. I am afraid it never will. As long as man lives.
The crowds queuing up outside the gate of Hagia Sofia.
Security at the entrance.
The vaulted ceiling and corridors of one of the galleries before entering the main area.
The main central part of the church. The chandeliers were quite a sight.
The upper loggias and patios.
Islamic inscriptions on the columns of the building, serving as a reminder that the church was converted and functioned as a mosque for many centuries.
Apse mosaic of the Virgin and the Child on the dome, just under the mihrab which is the qibla wall that is pointing to Mecca, helping Muslims know which direction to pray.
The mosaic of Seraphim. It is amazing that the face of the seraph (they are angels) has been restored into detail.
Moi here at the altar and mihrab.
The complexity of the dome and naves.
Another one of the vaulted ceilings in one of the corridor galleries.
The southwestern entrance which is used now as the exit door has an impressive mosaic.
A fountain outside the church used for ablution (act of washing oneself before entering the worship premises).
Travel Period: May 2015
Destination: Fatih (Istanbul - Marmara), Turkey
Keep in touch and follow me on Facebook: Travel & Lifestyle Diaries by Dutched Pinay Travels
Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
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