Turkish Delights: Hagia Sofia

So our first day we decided to get the most touristy stuff out of the way, so of course Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque were first on our list. I've got photos from the Blue Mosque too, but I like Hagia Sophia better, so they come first :)

Some of the images have writing on them. I was fooling around with fonts because I'm thinking about making a book of the photos. Coming Soon!!

For those that don't know, Hagia Sofia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935. That was stolen from Wikipedia.

View from the second level. I love this photo. I took one from the other side that should look the same because the space is symmetrical, but it just didn't look the same.

I put the camera on the ground and set the timer. Not to call myself an innovator, but I caught other tourists copying this idea.

Probably should have put this one first. This was the view when you first walk in. The two kids on the left must have either thought that I was a celebrity or someone important or, they just don't see that many black people. They nervously asked if they could take a picture with me. They seemed nice, so I said yes. Its not every day people meet someone as awesome as me...

There were mosaics everywhere. We didn't do the audio tour so we just stumbled upon them. This one depicts Mary sitting on a throne with Jesus on her lap.

These giant wooden disks were all over the place inside. We didn't know what they meant at the time, but after an "exhaustive" wikipedia search, I discovered that they are " gigantic circular-framed disks or medallions hung on columns. They were inscribed with the names of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad, the first four caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and the two grandchildren of Mohammed: Hassan and Hussain, by the calligrapher Kazasker İzzed Effendi."

The apse.

The Comnenus Mosaic. The Virgin Mary is standing in the middle, holding the Child Christ on her lap. He gives His blessing with His right hand while holding a scroll in His left hand. On her right side stands emperor John II Comnenus, represented in a garb embellished with precious stones. He holds a purse, symbol of an imperial donation to the church. Empress Irene stands on the left side of the Virgin, wearing ceremonial garments and offering a document.

One cool thing we heard while we eavesdropped on another tour group was that when the monarchs changed. they just changed the heads on the mosaics and kept the bodies the same. So, laziness prevailed, even back then!

Also, I must point out that anyone can take a picture of something, but it takes real skill to take a picture of someone taking a picture of something. Baller.

The sweating column. We didn't know what this was at first, but we saw the line for it and jumped in. Apparently if you put your thumb in it, rotate your hand and make a wish it will come true if your thumb come out wet. I wished for kittens.