JEllis Adventures: A Walk Through Time

Merhaba!

It is well past time that I wrote a blog entry! It has certainly been a busy week for me. Every day I wake up at 6:30, get the kids up, have breakfast, then I am out of the house! I come home when the kids are back from school, play with them and do homework. After my shower I tell myself I should write, but sleep instead.

Excitedly awaiting admittance

A view from outside

Last week was jammed packed with historical sight seeing. On Tuesday Alix, Sarah and I met up in the district of Sultannamet to see the world famous Hagia Sophia. This particular site is always at the top of must-sees in Turkey. We ended up waiting in line for quite a long time, but you can see from my pictures below, it was well worth the wait.

Inside!

Taken from the upper Gallery

Christian Mosiacs

I’m going to give you guys some historical context so you can better appreciate this post. The very first Hagia Sophia was constructed in 324 and was burnt down during a rebellion, no remains of this structure exist. Following the first construction, the Hagia Sophia has been rebuilt no less than four times, suffering destruction at the hand of plunder, earthquake and fire. During the third reconstruction Emperor Justinianus commissioned the erection of the central “grand” dome, wishing Hagia Sophia to be more resplendent than ever. This ribbed dome took a total of five years to construct and signifies the “infinity of the cosmos signified by the Holy Soul to which the church was dedicated”. Since its initial construction, the Hagia Sophia was a center for Eastern Christianity practice (used particularly for ornate rituals) until the Ottoman conquest in 1453, where Mehmed II converted the Sophia into a mosque. Minor changes were made initially to allow Muslims to practice here - the addition of a mihrab. A mihrab is a semicirular prayer niche along the wall that faces mecca- this is where the prayer leader resides. It wasn’t until later on that major changes were made- the christian mosaics were covered up, minarets were added (external pillars). Colossal discs were affixed to the walls- they bear the name of God, the Prophet, the four Caliphs and the sons of Ali. In the early 1900s the Hagia Sophia was secularized and later converted into a museum. It wasn’t until a restoration in the 40s that the mosaics were uncovered for all to see!

The central dome

In front of the mihrab

To say the interior was magnificent would be a vast understatement. It was absolutely breathtaking. After you walk in through massive double doors all you see is a sea of hanging lights making the whole place glow gold. Alix, Sarah and I were literally walking around with our mouthes open. I think we spent a couple of hours inside wandering through the niches and upper and lower galleries. I managed to get some pretty great pictures... but I still feel like they don’t do the place justice.

The following day Alix and I went to Topkapı Palace. The weather was beautiful that day and the place was packed! This was certainly a different experience than we have had at other sites. After we got in we were disappointed to see the whole place full of people. There were line ups to get into the individual buildings. Alix and I spent our time in line listening to an audio guide. Once we actually got into the buildings we were herded in a line like cattle, good thing we heard the descriptions beforehand because we hardly had enough time to read the little panels next the exhibits. Topkapı Palace was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans between 1465-1856. The palace is now a musuem and contains many Muslim holy relics including the prophet Mohammed’s sword, cloak and footprint. I’ve decided to focus more on the artifacts here, instead of the structures. All photos of artifacts are not my own because photography was not permitted inside. What I really noticed about the artifacts was the obvious richness of the Ottoman empire. Cups, water jugs, figurines, thrones, even cradles were covered with gold! Emeralds seemed to be a huge theme (massive), as was mother of pearl- I saw a thrones covered in this. Basically everything we saw was looked like it was dipped in glue and rolled in gemstones. Very, very very lavish.

My favourite artifact was the Kaşıkçı Elması (or the Spoonmaker's diamond), a ginormous 86 karat diamond. Story goes that a man found the stone in a junkyard and traded it for three wooden spoons. The spoonmaker sold the stone to a jeweler for 10 silver coins. The head jeweler was notified when it was discovered that it was a precious diamond.The diamond master of the palace processed the unique diamond (the most well known of the first 22 diamonds of the world). Pretty unbelievable that all that stood between me and a massive gemstone was a bored looking security guard and a measly pane of glass.

The Spoonmaker's Diamond

Casing of the footprint of Mohammed

The sword of Mohammed

Outside of the outer gate

In front of the marble fountain on the wall of the Library of Ahmet III

One thing I will note here is the AMAZING VIEW of the Marmara Sea joining with the bosphorus! We came out back expecting to see gardens and were elated with the view! Alix and I were so in love we had out lunch out on a marble patio