A visit to Hagia Sophia

I mentioned in an earlier post that Heather and I were going to take a Turkish cooking class at the Sarnic Hotel in Istanbul. Well, the day before, the Sarnic Hotel called us and canceled - they were short just one student before they could do the class. Which was a big bummer for us. At least now I can get out of my "cooking Heather food once a week" deal. Phew!

Instead, I think that that was the day when we went to Hagia Sophia. From Wikipedia:

Hagia Sophia (Turkish: Ayasofya, Greek: Αγία Σοφία; "Holy Wisdom", Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was the largest cathedral ever built in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Medieval Seville Cathedral in 1520.

The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 AD on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site (the previous two had both been destroyed by riots). It was designed by two architects, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The Church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 50 foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the patriarchal church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly 1000 years.

This is the exit (or the entrance, if you follow the Rick Steves tour). Because of the Muslim injunction against icons, most of the mosaics were destroyed when the church became a mosque. This one survived though

I was fascinated to learn that banning icons was actually a very controversial measure at the time, and there were actually violent religious riots from the opposition - the populist faithful - about it.

Anyway, that's the Virgin Mary with Jesus in the center. To the left is Emperor Justinian, who is presenting a completed Hagia Sophia to Mary and Jesus. To the right is Constantine, who is presenting the city itself.

Here's the massive hall right after the entrance way:

This next photo is in the main hall. This is sort of like a pulpit. The imam did not climb up to the top, as you might think. Instead, he occupied the middle. The top was symbolically reserved only for Muhammad.

It's hard to illustrate the size of Hagia Sophia. This next picture doesn't even show the main dome - just a partial dome on the side. The main dome is large enough to house the entire Cathedral at Notre Dame - or even the Statue of Liberty, minus the torch.

Those black circles say things like Muhammad, Allah, and other major figures in Islam. There are four main ones. Two date from the sixth century, and two from something like the sixteenth - they had to be restored. Anyway, the names were displayed because images could not be. Beautiful, aren't they?

This next one takes some explanation. Legend has it that if you stick your thumb in this hole and make a 360 degree rotation with it, in this "weeping pillar" at Hagia Sophia, and if you feel a feeling of dampness, then your wish will come true. Here's Heather wishing her wish:

The metal has been worn away by literally millions of people sticking their thumbs into this hole. Luckily I had the Germ-X for my hands after I made my wish. Hope that that doesn't invalidate the wish.

Lastly, here's an interesting Christian mosaic upstairs:

I took this because of Christ's hand gesture. His thumb is touching the tip of his ring finger. Heather reckons that this signifies the trinity. It struck me as reminiscent of Buddhist and Hindu hand gestures, though, and I wondered if there had been some cross-fertilization of cultures and religions. It would be very likely in this part of the world, I thought.

Anyway, cool place!