Visiting Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
Walking through the giant entrance doors is both humbling and breathtaking. There is a crumbling faded beauty here. Along with the peeling paint and missing mosaic tiles, there are graceful arches, intricate wood carvings and ironwork, and sunlight filtered through high windows. Close your eyes and imagine the electric bulbs suspended from the ceiling were once thousands of candles.
From the outside it’s easy to confuse the Hagia Sophia with just another mosque in a city which has hundreds. There’s a big dome and minarets flanking the four corners, but walk inside and it’s another story all together. In fact, many times I found myself looking at the skyline from a distance and wondering …”which is which?”
The Hagia Sophia was first a christian church built mostly as it stands now, giant dome and all, in the sixth century. When the Ottomans took over in the 15th century it was converted to a mosque, complete with minarets and changing the orientation of the apse to face Mecca.
Now, both the church and the mosque have been deconsecrated and the building is a museum open to the public Tuesday-Sunday, check for summer/winter hours and admission prices.
It’s hard to gain perspective on the center dome from photos, but from the floor to the top of the dome is 184 feet. Keep in mind this was built in 537 AD, long before the likes of St Peter’s in Rome.
The photo above shows the mihrab, placed offset at the end of the apse, indicating the exact direction of Mecca. They could not change the orientation of the church when it was converted into a mosque which is why the mihrab is not symmetrical to the rest of the structure.
Upstairs in the gallery are a number of mosaics. We went in search of one listed as “Emperor Alexander holding a skull” (how could you not?) but we were unable to find it. But not to worry, there were plenty of others including a slightly disquieting one below.
Would it be sacrilegious to say that the baby Jesus looks a little like Chuckie in the above mosaic?
10 Comments
Anise K. Strong
One of the things that, from my memory, most brochures and guidebooks don’t mention about the Hagia Sofia is that it was originally built as atonement for one of the greatest state-ordered killing of civilians in world history, the Nike Revolt. In the Hippodrome right outside where the HS is now, the Emperor Justinian ordered soldiers to surround the chariot racing arena full of about 40,000+ rioting chariot racing fans and to kill them all. It may well have been necessary to prevent further riot and revolution, but the sheer disastrous carnage caused him to vow a new church in order to repent before God. So it has a very odd legacy.
Also, the current dome doesn’t date from 537, but about a century later; the first one fell down, sadly.
wired2theworld
Anise, thanks for the added history. No, my guidebook didn’t mention any of this! But I have you, so I don’t need no stinkin’ guidebooks. 😉
Natalie
Did you know that there are actually three Hagia sophias Turkey? I only found out the other day. This one is of course the biggest and quite possibly the best in terms of the wow factor
wired2theworld
Natalie- Now that you say it, it sounds familiar but I don’t know where they are.
Dave
The last time I was there the whole interior was covered in scaffolding. Looks like they cleared that up now. Lots of constant renovation too.
Fantastic and beautiful interior from an exterior that as you said can fool you into thinking it’s just another mosque.
wired2theworld
Dave, exactly! Even though I’d seen pictures, I was really stunned by the interior beauty of the structure once I walked inside. The exterior doesn’t really hint at it.
vicki
Wow! what an old and beautiful place. I’ve wanted to see it since reading about it in the book, The Librarian. And I agree, that likeness is a bit like Chuckie.
CharlesStevenson in DC
(Thursday, January 5, 2017) Does the baby Jesus look like Chuckie? Or is it Chuckie who looks like the Baby Jesus, reminding us that no matter how depraved and violent we may be, the Creator loves us all, that we all exist in the infinite Mind of G-d, and that we can choose to turn to happiness, freedom, and truth, no matter what… Happy New Year to all!