Istanbul Trip Part 15: Haggia Sofia

Today is the last day we have in Istanbul and we are flying off in the afternoon. So we only have half a day and have to do as much as possible in half a day...

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.

These three pillars we passed by when walking to the entrance are artifacts they found while opening up some parts of the building and doing some evacuation work..

This building that we see now is actually a third version of Aya Sofya. The first two versions have been destroyed by rioters in the past.

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 painting of the building on the exhibition area where they explain Haggia Sofia's history..

This is Aya Sofa and the Hippodrome...

This is how a previous version of the Haggia Sofia looked like..

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.

When we went in we noticed that the ceilings were all yellow in colour. I later found out that these are actually supposed to be mosaic.. golden mosaic!

There are some famous mosaic paintings inside the building..

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.

This is the corridor along the entrance. Apparantly, in the olden days, these were plastered over and painted over..

After we looked at the exhibition posters, we decided to head upstairs as we saw some signs that said there were some galleries..

In the gallery, there was a series of very very nice photos taking of the mosaics and features in the building..

How come my photo looked so different from this one huh?:P wahahaha Same location but different photographer.. wahahah...

You can't tell from this picture and when I saw it, I also did not realize this.. but when I went close to look at these pillars, I realized that the golden background with patterns and also the black background with golden patterns are all made of mosaics!

Apparently, this is the upper imperial gate gallery (where the people view important ceremonies being held below in the main hall).

Because of its long history as both a church and a mosque, a particular challenge arises in the restoration process. Christian iconographic mosaics can be uncovered, but often at the expense of important and historic Islamic art. Restorers have attempted to maintain a balance between both Christian and Islamic cultures. In particular, much controversy rests upon whether the Islamic calligraphy on the dome of the cathedral should be removed, in order to permit the underlying Pantocrator mosaic of Christ as Master of the World, to be exhibited (assuming the mosaic still exists)

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 sort of design is very much ottoman....

This is pictures of the mosaics left behind..  Looking at these, I just thought like.. oh wow.. how very western or how very christian.. but when I saw the actual mosaics, it was overwhelming and I felt a little sad they were not in better shape..

Can you imagine whole columns of marbles?

Do you see this circle? Inside is written in arabic the names names of Muhammad and Islam's first caliphs.. I think added when it became a mosque..

Mr Chua trying to be funny...

They are doing some restoration work now.. so partially blocked the view of the dome... I think the islamic patterns on the dome are no less beautiful.. I wonder though if technology will be able to show us what hides under this as I am sure the christian church paintings on the dome will also be pretty.. given what we have seen of the mosaics...

Max posing in front of the pic.. I think he looks quite HOLY in this picture.. dun you think so? Wahahaha.. in the past, when we used to attend workshops together and during the role playing exercises, when asked to choose someone to play the role of "god" or a "monk", Max is somehow always chosen ;) wahahaah..

There were lots of cracks in the floor and in fact, one of the pillars we saw was totally slanted. I read later that these are all because of the earthquakes etc where various parts of the building collapsed.. etc..

And of course like many mosques, they must have those painted windows!:)

I can imagine how grand this place must look in its heyday.. PLUS... I mean, can you imagine this builing is more than a thousand years old?! I wouldnt be surprised if I ever visited it in one of my past lives since it will have been standing there maybe for my past 10 lives:)

This is the ANGEL whose face was covered by thte ottomans...

Marble door...

This is how the Deësis mosaic will look like in its full glory..

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.

I found this really amazing article that talks about the restoration of this piece of art work... Apparently, it took quite alot of effort to plaster over this... and even more effort to remove the plaster and restore the art work.

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..

Just so you can see how intricate the patterns are....

Here you can see that underneath the beans are mosiacs... and then leh, parts of it, u can see they have uncovered the gold mosaic and the rest of it is plastered and painted over in a similar style... Can you imagine the whole painted area is mosaic?!:) Must have been quite a church man!

Other than the four angels, there is also this mosaic on one of the encalves..



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..

Because I could not use flash and the sunlight was very bright, I couldnt really take a good pic.. But here is a good pic I found on the internet..

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.

I wonder if they painted the faces.. i still cannot believe that EVERYTHING on the picture is mosaic! The face... espcially that of Virgin Mary is so lifelike wor!

This one is called the Empress Zoe Mosaic.

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.

Again, due to sunlight I dun have a good pic of this... Here is one from the internet..

We walked around and I found that from this angle, I could take a better pic of Virgin and Child..

Tried to do a close up on the coloured glass windows...

So pretty hor:)

Look at the details on the pillar. I know the pillar is marble.. I wonder the whitish part is it marble as well...

I think though, these designs are very much Ottoman... and they probably are...

Asked Ace to pose in front of a photo to pretend like he is taking a photo at this place...

But I think he is too short lah :) whahahhaha..

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...

I marvel though at the amount of brick and amount of time it must have taken to build this whole buidling..

On this arch here, you can see the plasters were plastered over something... and somehow.. I dunno why.. those something that they plastered over that are actually christian crosses are darker in colour and they somehow "seeped" through the plaster...


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?

Lovely turkish motifs..

Looking forward to hearing an explanation about these bleeding crosses some day..

The ‘’Sweating’’ Column: On the northern corner of the Hagia Sophia, the inner side of the last door on the left, stands the “sweating column”, which is damp and wet in all seasons.

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!

This is one of the two huge marble lustration (ritual purification) urns that  were brought from Pergamon during the reign of Sultan Murad III. Stemming from the Hellenistic period, they are carved from single blocks of marble... amazing!

As you know, this is a highly protected place and there are many places human beings are not allowed access.. somehow, perhaps it is that Turkish consider cats holy animals.. that they allow these cats to roam freely even inside the museum:) hahaha....

The only Angel with a "face".. the rest are "masked" ;)

There was also an islamic caligraphy art exhibition..

This staircase like thingy is apparently used for prayer by the Sultans..

I think the lighted area behind the pooliceman is private area for the royal family in the past bah. anyway, policeman standing here to guard so you cannot go near....

But did you notice there is a CAT in the picture? The only cat in the world tat is allowed access to this sacred area..

Imperial Gate mosaics: located in the tympanum above the gate, used only by the emperors when entering the church. Based on style analysis, it has been dated to the late 9th or early 10th century. The emperor with a nimbus or halo could possibly represent emperor Leo VI the Wise or his son Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus bowing down before Christ Pantocrator, seated on a jeweled throne, giving His blessing and holding in His left hand an open book.[59] The text on the book reads as follows: "Peace be with you. I am the light of the world". (John 20:19; 20:26; 8:12) On each side of Christ's shoulders is a circular medallion: on His left the Archangel Gabriel, holding a staff, on His right His Mother Mary.

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..

As we were running out of time, we decided that it was time to go..

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..

The "tub" for baptism..

As we walked out of Haggia Sofia and tried to go to our next location, we walked pass this again.... the last time we tried to take piture, the shopkeeper said cannot wor.. today when we passed by.. shop is closed.. so I take photo lah:) wahahaha

Really cannot bear to say goodbye to these beautiful flowers:)

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