According to hagiasophia.com, "Rebuilt by the orders of Emperor Justinian in 537, for 900 years Hagia Sophia had been the center of Orthodox Christianity until 1453 when the city was concurred by Ottomans. 500 years following the conquest of Muslims, it became a jewel for the Muslim world and as the grand mosque of the sultans."
(I think they meant "conquered", not "concurred".)
The Mosque is so large that it is impossible to fit it all in one picture, but here is a little part of it. The whole building is made of stone. The workmanship is so intricate, it is hard to believe. One of the things we learned is that it was constructed in less than 6 years!
This is the door that only Emperors were allowed to enter through. I walked through it. It was huge!
The main thing that struck me while visiting the Mosque was the sheer immensity of the building. Archway after archway led to room after room, detailed with stone inlays and mosaics and hand-painted designs. And oh my, it was chilly in there!
Here is Huzz standing in front of something. I don't know what it was, but it was roped off, so it must've been important.
And me.
Oh, and I apologize for the lack of quality with some of the pictures. No flash photography was permitted, so some of them is the best I could get with the lighting provided.
I mean, seriously, look at all the archways. The super detailed paintings on the walls and ceilings just didn't seem to end.
We went up to the second story and took a look down below. Look at the height of the people compared to the rest of it. And I couldn't fit about twice as much height above this in my shot!
Here is one of the mosaics. This is Emperor Zoe, apparently.
More columns and archways and astonishing architecture.
This is one of the hallways upstairs. I just loved the painting on the ceiling. That's Huzz, walking in the tan jacket.
Just some neat facts. See, I told you it was huge!
This is the Mosaic of the Virgin Mary
And this is a fountain, just outside the Mosque. The sign said it was used to cleanse yourself before you entered the presence of God. Funny, I thought that that's why you enter His presence because only He can actually do that for you.
So, as you can see, we are learning a lot and seeing a lot! There is definitely so much history here that is keeping us busy. I have been so exhausted at nighttime that I don't have the strength to blog, but I'll keep trying to post while we're here, I promise!
PS ~ On Wednesday, I took 176 pictures of Hagia Sophia, so I just chose some of my favorites to share with you. When we get back to the States, I'll be more than happy to show anyone who's interested all of the pictures. We could pop popcorn and put up the projector screen. It would be awesome. I am cool, guys. Really, I am!
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