Aya Sofia

Aya Sofia which has many different spellings, which equally mean it is amazing and full of culture, is arguably the most famous sight in Istanbul. It dominates the postcard scene, stands out among the other mosques with it's variety of red stone and the fact that Constantine had it built originally as a church a long long time ago. As the expression goes, I saved the best for last, and saw Aya Sofia in my last couple days in Istanbul. I'd been in line once before, but I didn't like the wait so I left, but on this day, there was no line and I could go right in and get to enjoying the history and heights of the building. It's tough to know what to call Aya Sofia, as it was a church, then a mosque, depending on who was running the country. Now it's more of a museum, but the conservative government is trying to make it back into a mosque. This would knock off the entrance fee, and make it the central figure among the mosques in Istanbul, but in doing so, they would cover up the Christian mosaics and try to hide part of the buildings rich history. I can say that I saw Aya Sofia when it was a museum full of character, history and culture, and I was amazed by it.

The first thing you notice once you walk in, is how big it is. Ginormous is a good way to put it, with the ceilings being super tall, scaling up to the world's narrowest dome (or so says the video). The best part to me was the second level, some 20 meters high, called the upper galleries. The way up is via ramp, as back in the day, the empress was carried everywhere and didn't want stairs which would disrupt her minions' steps as they walked up. On this level are most of the highlighted mosaics. Full of intricate detail depicting Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist and of course the rulers, Constantine and other emperors. Nothing like a mosaic depicting an emperor giving the city to Mother Mary. Quite picturesque.

You can easily spend hours walking around soaking it all up. It was well worth the wait and made for a fun afternoon learning more about the past in Istanbul, as well as seeing some mosaics that rival any out there in the world. That was the last thing on my list to do in Istanbul, and so after over 2 months in the country, with almost 1.5 months spent in Istanbul, my time here is up and I'm off to Europe again. Turkey has been wicked, full of good times, many adventures, learning my way around Istanbul and making some great friends. The life is good, and I'm ready to take on the world once again!!!

Entryway with mosaic up above

Inside with the huge vaulted ceilings

Great stained glass windows around, having been changed to Arabic script

The ramp going up to the upper galleries

All that is left of one of the more famous mosaics

What the above mosaic used to look like

View out the window of the Blue Mosque next door

Another mosaic with presents for Mother Mary and Jesus coming from the emperors

Constantine on the left, Jesus and then some other famous dude from way back when

The size of the mosaics

Closeup of the mosaic

Yours truly and the mosaic.  No central heating in the museum as you can tell

Founder on Constantinople!

Me in the upper galleries looking back down below

One of the long corridors inside the museum

Pretty much every part of the building is amazing

Original engraving of a cross surrounded by two pigeons above the entryway