Hagia Sophia: church, mosque, museum

Our #1 place to visit in Istanbul was the Hagia Sophia:  it was the most studied of all the sites we visited on this trip (in school this past year) and aside from some Greek ruins (later) was the oldest place we would visit.  Aside from the unbelievable age of this structure; the east-meets-west culture and dedication to preserving both in this historic place testify to our ability as humans to work peacefully together.  2 out of 4 of us were fascinated, the others loved the stray cats.

Top 10 Hagia Sophia Moments:

10. Originally constructed in 360 by Holy Roman Emperor Constantius; burned, reconstructed, destroyed and then the amazing Emperor Justinian (and his even more amazing wife, Theodora) completely rebuilt the structure between 532-537 after the Nike revolt.  I wonder if Justinian ever thought about the longevity of his building projects? This marvel, renowned for its massive windowed dome was THE world's largest cathedral for 1000 years (next largest was the Cathedral in Seville) until the Ottoman reign added the minarets (1453), covered up the Christian mosaics and turned it into a very large mosque.  In 1935 it opened as a museum.  In recent years there has been much debate over returning the building to a mosque.

9.  Barrel arches in the entry ways and pieces of columns, arches scattered on the grass from the Christian era of the Hagia Sophia --classic Roman, ok guys?  "Yeah, mom, whatever!" 

8.  The hallway from the door we just entered.  All mosaic tile in the ceiling and the walls have these amazing patterns and colors of inlaid marble.   I was slowing down the tour...

7.  And, inside...even with repair scaffolding, this enormous sanctuary / mosque/ now museum was pretty awesome.  When the sultan acquired the church, all Christian symbols were painted or plastered over and redecorated to reflect the Muslim style:  sweeping geometric designs and calligraphy. 

6.  The place of coronations for many, many centuries of Byzantine emperors.

5.  Zach attempts to replicate the feelings of the emperor upon coronation--to bad they didn't have a costume box nearby for a really cool regal photo!

4.  Visiting Istanbul gave us a realtime introduction to a completely different religion:  here we saw the care & craftsmanship of the mihrab, pointing the direction to mecca.   

the chandeliers were electric now, but still contained the glass containers for candles and gas lamps 

3.  Mosaics --the reason everyone visits this ancient site:  Here, the Angel Gabriel, restored as much as possible, looks down from the ceiling.

2.  I loved that not everything was perfectly restored --this way we have a sense that it takes care and concern to keep a treasure in good repair....like your bedrooms, right guys?

1.  The stairway to the upper level was surprisingly plain --there were graves (now empty) and roof drainage trenches up here.  No stairs --all cobblestone like ramps, and low ceilings!

Last, we found several Christian mosaics and a place where a Viking Crusader etched his initials into a railing. At least that's the story we were told....

The Deësis mosaic probably dates from 1261, based on artistic styles from that period.
Virgin Mary and John the Baptist with Christ.

11th century mosaic showing Christ in his customary Byzantine blue robe and Empress Zoe & Emperor Monomachos donating monetary gifts.  

 Friends.

Summer Grexit & Istanbul Taxis

Our summer 2015 travel adventure led us in search of "the stuff we learned in history class."  At least that was my goal.  The boys just wanted adventure.  And so, by way of Istanbul, we were headed to Athens.  Until the Grexit drama.  Unstable economy & public demonstrations in the news; being told "everything's fine" by the BnB host, but just bring lots (and by lots, I mean LOTS) of euro.  Last minute gut feeling was to cancel until a later date = more time to explore Istanbul.  And, a good decision since 1 day in Istanbul would not have been enough!

We flew in late to the city, so started the real adventure the next morning with the mother of all Taksi rides!  *note:  Alex is in German driver's ed and knows ALL the rules.  Heading from the airport hotel to the old town district was 45 minutes of white knuckled prayer.  The boys were all smushed together in the backseat (no way I was splitting us into 2 cabs!)  with no seatbelts (another prayer the sardine effect works when called upon) and the taxi driver attempting to speak English while I frantically search my pocket guide to conversation all the while keeping an eye on the road!

photo courtesy of carvingaspot.blogspot.de 

Traffic was rush hour style at 2pm and while the Turkish government painted perfect lines (and beautiful highway gardens), no one seemed to care about lanes!  And, no one seemed to care about seat belts.  Every passing car was equipped with a hands-on cell-speaking driver and as if that weren't enough, our sweet driver insisted on sharing photos of his beautiful granddaughter....looked them up while he was driving.....at least his top speed was only 90kph.   Horns blaring, cars swerving, stop, go, phone calls, look at a my photos and before we knew it we were successfully and safely dropped at the hotel!  #guardianangels

The rest of our week was on foot and tram!  First up:  the Hagia Sophia & Kebab

Hagia Sophia