Istanbul....Next bite

01.07.2015

The Hagia Sophia ( Full translation means Shrine of the Holy Wisdom of God) is still standing, and that is something of a miracle. The first version was built in 336 AD in the reign of the Emperor Constantine and served as a cathedral. During riots in the city in 404 AD the church was burnt down to the ground. The next version was built in 415, and served as a Cathedral until it too was burnt down in riots that badly damaged the city in 532 AD. Third time lucky you would think, and you would be kinda right. The present building was built by Emperor Justinion. It only took 5 years to build although he pillaged all of the known world for the materials. and used 10,000 men (possibly slaves) to build it. Until the Cathedral of Seville was built 1000 years later the Hagia Sophia was the largest Cathedral in the world, and it served as an inspiration for a whole new style of building using domes. However it had it's problems. It's first dome was too heavy to be supported by the walls, which started to buckle under the load, and during an earthquake in 558 the whole dome crashed down into the church. so it was back to the drawing boards and a new lighter dome was constructed by 562 AD. Fires, and earthquakes continued to take their toll right up to the present day, and the Hagia Sophia has collapsed and been rebuilt every couple of hundred years. As well the city has been captured, and the church treasures looted and pillaged several times. In 1453 Constantinople was taken by the Ottomans and it's name changed to Istanbul. Sultan Mehmet, saw the Cathedral and ordered that it be changed into a Mosque. and until 1935 a Mosque it remained. When the First Turkish Republic was formed by Ataturk in 1936 the Mosque was closed and then reopened as a Museum. A museum which needs significant repairs and restorations just to keep it from further deterioration. For 1500 years the building has been used and abused and it shows. When it was built the interior was lined with the most beautiful mosaics depicting Christian motifs. during it's life as a Mosque the mosaic pieces were picked off the walls and sold as souvenirs to visitors or covered in plaster and paint. The few that remain are of a singular beauty and throw a light on the heights of subtle artistic creation that the 11th and 12th century artists were capable of. While walking around the upper gallery there were large sections of marble flooring that were cracked and sagging and I hate to think of the consequences of another major earthquake. It was a privilege for me to be able to see what I saw of the Hagia Sophia who is a grand old lady who doesn't deserve to become just another crumbling ruin on the landscape of Europe Other buildings on the site like the 500 year old Sultan's tombs are in pristine condition and are delightful to look at, once you forget about the bodies in the little green coffins...

Walk from Blue Mosque to Hagia Sophia