Our first stop today is Haggia Sofia or as they call it in Istanbul Aya Sofya..
Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica (church), later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey.
Because of its unique history of having been a church and a mosque, the building is a true wonder and probably the only one of its kind in the world.
Hagia Sophia is one of the most famous buildings in the world - one of the seven modern wonders, a miraculous survivor of earthquakes, religious conflicts and conquering armies. When the Deesis panel was uncovered it was an embodiment of many things at once: the history of the building, a spirit of suffering, humanity and Heaven - all in one. It was of such extraordinary quality and beauty that it was immediately hailed as one of the greatest treasures of world art and still is today.
The name church was called Haggia Sofia not because it was named after a saint or a person called Sofia. Rather, the word SOFIA actually is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom, its full name in Greek is Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, "Shrine of the Holy Wisdom of God".
The building itself is also an architectural wonder, and is famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have "changed the history of architecture." because of its large round dome.
It remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years.
Interestingly, this building is designed by scientists.. not architects:) Haha... They were designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.
The church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 15-metre (49 ft) silver iconostasis.
But all these I am putting here to explain about Haggia Sofia.. I only read AFTER i visited the place... When I went there, I knew NOTHING of this place.. nor his historical value... and so, me and Max resorted to hanging aroun the tour groups and listening to what their tour guides are saying:) wahahaha
A little more about Haggia Sofia..
In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, who ordered this main church of the Orthodox Christianity converted into a mosque.
By this point, the Church had fallen into a state of disrepair. Nevertheless, the Christian cathedral made a strong impression on the new Ottoman rulers and they decided to convert it into a mosque.
The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels and other relics were removed and the mosaics depicting Jesus, his Mother Mary, Christian saints and angels were also removed or plastered over.
Islamic features – such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets – were added. It remained a mosque until 1931 when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the Republic of Turkey.
From its initial conversion until the construction of the nearby larger Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque of Istanbul) in 1616, it was the principal mosque of Istanbul.
The Hagia Sophia served as inspiration for many other Ottoman mosques, such as the Blue Mosque, the Şehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque and the Kılıç Ali Paşa Mosque.
The church was richly decorated with mosaics throughout the centuries. They either depicted the Virgin Mother, Jesus, saints, or emperors and empresses. Other parts were decorated in a purely decorative style with geometric patterns.
During the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, the Latin Crusaders vandalized valuable items in every important Byzantine structure of the city, including the golden mosaics of the Hagia Sophia.
Many of these items were shipped to Venice, whose Doge, Enrico Dandolo, had organized the invasion and sack of Constantinople.
Following the building's conversion into a mosque in 1453, many of its mosaics were covered with plaster, due to Islam's ban on representational imagery.
This process was not completed at once, and reports exist from the 17th century in which travellers note that they could still see Christian images in the former church.
After we looked at the exhibition posters, we decided to head upstairs as we saw some signs that said there were some galleries..
Apparently, this is the upper imperial gate gallery (where the people view important ceremonies being held below in the main hall).
If you look at the sides of the dome, you will notice 4 angels...
In 1847–49, the building was restored by two Swiss Italian brothers, Gaspare and Giuseppe Fossati, and Sultan Abdülmecid allowed them to also document any mosaics they might discover during this process.
This work did not include repairing the mosaics and after recording the details about an image, the Fossatis painted it over again.
The Fossatis restored the mosaics of the two hexapteryga (singular Greek: εξαπτέρυγον, pr. hexapterygon, six-winged angel); it is uncertain whether they are seraphim or cherubim) located on the two east pendentives, covering their faces again before the end of the restoration. At present they left one of the faces of one angel COVERED. But uncovered another so that you can see how it looked like.
I think this could have been taken from the records that the Fossati Brothers made. The architects reproduced in paint damaged decorative mosaic patterns, sometimes redesigning them in the process. The Fossati records are the primary sources about a number of mosaic images now believed to have been completely or partially destroyed in the 1894 Istanbul earthquake.
The Deësis mosaic (Δέησις, "Entreaty") probably dates from 1261. It was commissioned to mark the end of 57 years of Roman Catholic use and the return to the Orthodox faith.
It is the third panel situated in the imperial enclosure of the upper galleries. It is widely considered the finest in Hagia Sophia, because of the softness of the features, the humane expressions and the tones of the mosaic. The style is close to that of the Italian painters of the late 13th or early 14th century, such as Duccio.
In this panel the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist (Ioannes Prodromos), both shown in three-quarters profile, are imploring the intercession of Christ Pantocrator for humanity on Judgment Day. The bottom part of this mosaic is badly deteriorated. This mosaic is considered as the beginning of the Renaissance in Byzantine pictorial art.
That crack in the bottom right was made because one of the sultans wanted to see what was in between the walls of Aya Sofya... And the rest, were probably spoilt over time as the church was used roughly by the people who took over it... Anyway, thankfully, some sultan came up with the great idea of plastering over it.. and so, this mosaic still remains and we can see much of it...
In this area (imperial gallery), they do not allow flash photagraphy as FLASH is harmful to the mosaics..
It is called Virgin and Child and this was the first of the post-iconoclastic mosaics. It was inaugurated on 29 March 867 by Patriarch Photius and the emperors Michael III and Basil I. This mosaic is situated in a high location on the half dome of the apse. Mary is sitting on a throne without a back, holding the Child Jesus on her lap. Her feet rest on a pedestal. Both the pedestal and the throne are adorned with precious stones.
Here is a nicer picture of it..
The Comnenus mosaics, equally located on the eastern wall of the
southern gallery, date from 1122. The Virgin Mary is standing in the
middle, depicted, as usual in Byzantine art, in a dark blue gown. She
holds 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.
The Empress Zoe mosaics on the eastern wall of the southern gallery date from the 11th century. Christ Pantocrator, clad in the dark blue robe (as is the custom in Byzantine art), is seated in the middle against a golden background, giving His blessing with the right hand and holding the Bible in His left hand. On either side of His head are the monograms IC and XC, meaning Iēsous Khristos. He is flanked by Constantine IX Monomachus and Empress Zoe, both in ceremonial costumes. He is offering a purse, as symbol of the donation he made to the church, while she is holding a scroll, symbol of the donations she made. The inscription over the head of the emperor says: "Constantine, pious emperor in Christ the God, king of the Romans, Monomachus".
The inscription over the head of the empress reads as follows: "Zoë, the very pious Augusta". The previous heads have been scraped off and replaced by the three present ones. Perhaps the earlier mosaic showed her first husband Romanus III Argyrus or her second husband Michael IV.
Another theory is that these mosaics were made for an earlier emperor and empress, with their heads changed into the present ones.
We walked around and I found that from this angle, I could take a better pic of Virgin and Child..
I think we were about done there and so we decided to go downstairs to the main area.. passed by these holes.. they said is coffins of so and so... better quickly walk past...
Apparently hor, this plaster is 2 fingers thick leh! So thick also can seep through and so nice shape somemore... so leh, because at this moment no one can explain this.. some have called this a "miracle". Anyway, I think this only started happening in the recent few years so not much info about it.. still, I think is pretty amazing lor.. given that if umderneath is all mosaic.. should all bleed mah.. why only the cross?
The column is also known as “perspiring column” or “wishing column”. The lower part of the column is encircled with a copper belt. The hole in the middle of the column is there in order to insert a finger.
According To the legend, the column cured people suffering from headache, stomach ache and malaria during the Byzantine period. Emperor Justinian suffered headache attacks and was cured by this column. The people put their fingers in the hole, then to the affected area and the illness quickly disappeared. İn fact sweaty hands stopped sweating after touching the hole in the column.
The damp column also signified the tears of the Virgin Mary.
During the Ottoman period, the sufferers performed two-rakat prayers and put their palms to the copper plate and then to their faces. This was repeated three times for the total cure.
To some belief, the cause of the ‘’sweating’’ is the zam-zam(holy) water in the soil mixture of this column.
“The porous structure of the column absorbs the water in the base and causes the sweating” explain the scientists. The question remains as to why only this column in Hagia Sophia ‘’sweats’’?
But who cares, wishes can come true leh.. we all try lah:) wahahaha.. and it is really wet lor!
I think that is really interesting.. because hor, in dubai there is a program called Understanding Islam and always in the show, they will say something like "Peace be upon you.." which is like Peace be with you" mah...
Anyway, here is a better picture of it...
THis is how the whole imperial gate looks like..
But just as we were leaving, we saw people moving into this area.. so out of curiosity, we went too.. apparently, it leads us out to a courtyard and that is the place where people were baptised..
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