I had an opportunity to go to Istanbul (for the second time) this weekend with a friend/volunteer youth group staff. It was great! Here are few of my highlight pictures.
^ The hostel's rooftop terrace looking out over the Bosphorus Straight and Marmara Sea
^ The street view from our hostel's bedroom window
^ The Hagia Sophia
The Hagia Sophia is an amazing structure. It was built during the Byzantine Era by Emperor Justinian. It was one of the grandest churches in the world. The day the Ottoman's conquered the Byzantine's, it was converted into a Mosque. The beautiful Christian mosaics were plastered over and tiles and calligraphy paintings were placed on the walls. Mosques don't have pictures of living things, so they decorate with artsy patterns. Today the Hagia Sophia is a museum. It's an interesting mix of Christianity and Islamic art. They've begun taking down the plaster and refurbishing the mosaics. Some have only been discovered in the recent past.
^The grand entrance into the "sanctuary"
^ A very detailed mosaic
^ The pillars throughout the building are amazingly detailed.
^ Examples of calligraphy artwork. The names of Allah and Muhammed are in the front. There are 4 names of Caliphs in the center and 2 names of Muhammed's sons (or grandsons?) in the back.
^ Totally superstitious... but supposedly if you put your thumb in this hole, move your hand in a circle, and then pull your thumb out - if you feel moisture on your thumb your wish will come true. It's called St. Gregory's bleeding column.
^ Old tablets from a church council meeting.
The Hagia Sophia is an amazing structure. It was built during the Byzantine Era by Emperor Justinian. It was one of the grandest churches in the world. The day the Ottoman's conquered the Byzantine's, it was converted into a Mosque. The beautiful Christian mosaics were plastered over and tiles and calligraphy paintings were placed on the walls. Mosques don't have pictures of living things, so they decorate with artsy patterns. Today the Hagia Sophia is a museum. It's an interesting mix of Christianity and Islamic art. They've begun taking down the plaster and refurbishing the mosaics. Some have only been discovered in the recent past.
^The grand entrance into the "sanctuary"
^ A very detailed mosaic
^ The pillars throughout the building are amazingly detailed.
^ Examples of calligraphy artwork. The names of Allah and Muhammed are in the front. There are 4 names of Caliphs in the center and 2 names of Muhammed's sons (or grandsons?) in the back.
^ Totally superstitious... but supposedly if you put your thumb in this hole, move your hand in a circle, and then pull your thumb out - if you feel moisture on your thumb your wish will come true. It's called St. Gregory's bleeding column.
^ Old tablets from a church council meeting.
^ The Blue Mosque (a view from a window in the Hagia Sophia)
^ Women are required to wear head coverings, skirts/shorts below the knee, and sleeves inside the Mosque.
^ The Blue Mosque is called "blue" by tourists because of the blue tiles and painting inside the sanctuary.
^ Women are required to wear head coverings, skirts/shorts below the knee, and sleeves inside the Mosque.
^ The Blue Mosque is called "blue" by tourists because of the blue tiles and painting inside the sanctuary.
^ From the Bosphorous Sea at sunset -
the Blue Mosque is on the far left and the Hagia Sophia is on the right.
^ Taking a little cruise on the Golden Horn and Bosphorous Straight -
this is near the Galta Bridge and the Suleyman Magnificent Mosque
^ The bazaar is full of tunnels full of stuff, and more stuff -
it's super easy to get lost and turned around, the tunnels weave all over the place. The Bazaar is one of the oldest shopping centers in the world. It's where the silk road ended.
^ Lanterns (or lambas in Turkish) are one of my favorites in the bazaar.
^ One of the entrances into the Grand Bazaar!
it's super easy to get lost and turned around, the tunnels weave all over the place. The Bazaar is one of the oldest shopping centers in the world. It's where the silk road ended.
^ My friend's cousin and aunt live on the Asia side of Istanbul. (Istanbul is the only city spread out over two continents.) One of the evenings we got together with them for dinner. They took us to a great restaurant with a beautiful view that overlooked the water.
^ A lookout from Pierre Lotti point - that's the Golden Horn... with the Hagia Sophia way off in the distance to the right.
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