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| Haggia Sofia (Christian Basilica) or Aya Sofya (Muslim Mosque) is now a museum to both traditions |
Istanbul...not Constantinople
Our fourth in-port of our 10-day Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line Jade was Istanbul. We arrived on a cool but dry day in early March after a night passage past the ruins of Troy and through the mythical clashing rocks of the Dardanelles and past the World War I battleground of Gallipoli. I got up at 3:00 a.m. to view the Dardanelles passage and saw the lights of the Asiatic shore of Turkey sliding by our ship quite close on our starboard. For our first Istanbul outing we hopped the Metro to the Sultanahmet stop and walked past Aya Sofya to the Topkapi Palace.
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| Our Floating Istanbul Hotel, the NCL Ship Jade |
Our First Istanbul Day: Topkapi Palace
From Wikipedia: The Topkapı Palace (Turkish: Topkapı Sarayı or in Ottoman Turkish: طوپقپو سرايى) is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their 624-year reign. As well as a royal residence, the palace was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments. It is now a major tourist attraction and contains important holy relics of the Muslim world, including Muhammed's cloak and sword.
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| John |
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| Janice & Ron |
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| 90-year-old Istanbul Jimmy delivers us safely at Sultanahmet after a wild ride in his 1967 Impala |
Our Second Istanbul Day: From Sultanahmet to Galata Bridge
From Wikipedia:
Theodosius the Great in 390 AD brought this obelisk from Egypt and erected it inside the racing track of Old Constantinople. Carved from pink granite, it was originally erected at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor during the reign of Tuthmosis III in about 1490 BC. Theodosius had the obelisk cut into three pieces and brought to Constantinople. The top section survives, and it stands today where Theodosius placed it, on a marble pedestal. The obelisk has survived nearly 3,500 years in astonishingly good condition.
The Blue Mosque
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| The courtyard of the Blue Mosque |
From Wikipedia: The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultanahmet Camii) is an historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also contains a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice.
The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour. It has one main dome, six minarets, and other eight secondary domes.
Lunch at the Cavalry Bazaar
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| Cafe Mesale |
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| The Mosaic Museum |
Ayasofya or Hagia Sofia
Wikipedia: Hagia Sophia or "Holy Wisdom", Turkish: Ayasofya, 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 an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the 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. The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity, its dedication feast taking place on 25 December, the anniversary of the Birth of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ.
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." It remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years thereafter, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.
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| Only a small part of the dome is original |
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| The mihrab in the apse where the Christian altar used to stand, points towards Mecca |
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| The Omphalion is where the coronation of every Byzantine Emperor took place and where he would sit during ceremonies |
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| Purification urn brought from Pergamon by Sultan Murad III is carved from a single block of marble |
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| Revealed face of the Hexapterygon (six-winged angel) on the north east pendentive |
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| Imperial Gate reserved for the Emperor with Christ saying "Peace be with you. I am the light of the world" |
The Basilica Cistern
From Wikipedia: The Basilica Cistern (Turkish: Yerebatan Sarayı - "Sunken Palace", or Yerebatan Sarnıcı - "Sunken Cistern"), is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey. The cistern, located 500 feet (150 m) southwest of the Hagia Sophia on the historical peninsula of Sarayburnu, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.
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| One of two Medusa heads supporting columns in the Cistern |
Rustem Pasha Mosque
The Rüstem Pasha Mosque was designed by Ottoman imperial architect Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier Damat Rüstem Pasha (husband of one of the daughters of Suleiman the Magnificent, Princess Mihrimah). Rüstem Pasha died in July 1561 and the mosque was built after his death from around 1561 until 1563.
The mosque was built on a high terrace over a complex of vaulted shops, whose rents were intended to financially support the mosque complex. Narrow, twisting interior flights of steps in the corners give access to a spacious courtyard. The mosque has a double porch with five domed bays, from which projects a deep and low roof supported by a row of columns.
The Rüstem Pasha Mosque is famous for its large quantities of exquisite İznik tiles, set in a very wide variety of beautiful floral and geometric designs, which cover not only the façade of the porch but also the mihrab, minbar, walls, columns and on the façade of the porch outside.
This beautiful gem of a mosque was our last pilgrimage stop for the day. We walked back to our good ship Jade across the busy Galata Bridge filled with traffic, pedestrians and fishermen. While we dined in the Jade's Grand Pacific Room the ship loosed its moorings and we slipped through the lights and busy night boat traffic of Istanbul's Bosphorus. Our next stop was Naples with promises of adventures in Pompei, Herculaneum and Rome.
