Istanbul - Day 5
Emperors & Sultans
Page I

Aya Sofya - Hagia Sophia - Holy Wisdom

Day 5 of our six-day city trip and another busy day ahead. On our program for this day are: Yerebatan Sarayı, Aya Sofya, Mosaic Museum, Blue Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Camii, Hippodrome, Grand Bazaar, Süleymaniye Camii, Beyazit Square, Aqueduct of Valens, Egyptian Bazaar or Spice Bazaar. The corresponding pictures are distributed over 3 different pages. We start early with a visit to the remains of ancient Byzantine Constantinople, namely the Yerebatan Sarayı, the  Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia) Church and the Mosaic Museum.

The entrance to the Yerebatan Sarayı, popularly known as the Sunken Palace or Basilica Cistern is located close to the Divan Yolu opposite the Aya Sofya. The cistern with a dimension of 70 m wide and 140 m long was constructed in 532 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great. It is the largest remaining Byzantine cistern in Istanbul and was used for storing the 80,000 cubic meter water supply of the Imperial Palace. The water was pumped through a system of nearly 20 km of aqueducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea. Yerebatan Saray fell into disuse during the Ottoman period and was kept as a junk yard until it was cleaned and restored by the Istanbul Municipality in 1985-88.

The Basilica of the Holy Wisdom or Haghia Sophia (Aya Sofya) is the major Byzantine building still standing in Istanbul. It is one of the finest and most important architectural creations in the world. The church is actually the third on the site and was, at its completion in 537, the architectural wonder of its time. When  Emperor Justinian first entered the immense church, he exclaimed "Glory to God that I have been judged worthy of such a work. Oh Solomon! I have outdone you!" At first the basilica was known as the Great Church because it was the largest at the time. Later it became known as Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia in Greek, a name attributed to Christ by theologians of the 4th century.

For almost a thousand  years the Aya Sofya as imperial church of the Byzantine court impressed the strength and wealth of the Byzantine emperors upon their subjects. The central space has an area of 7,000 square metres. The dome rises to 56.6 metres at its apex and has a diameter of 32.37 metres. In its heyday as the Imperial cathedral, Hagia Sophia was served by 80 priests, 150 deacons, 60 subdeacons, 160 readers, 25 cantors and 75 doorkeepers

The worst desecration occurred in 1204, when the basilica was ransacked by the Latin soldiers during the Fourth Crusade and converted into a Catholic Church. The Latins also robbed many of the sacred relics that were kept in the church. Dandolo, the Venetian Doge and leader of the gang, was buried here and his tomb can still be seen, although tradition tells us that in 1453 his tomb was opened and his bones were thrown to the dogs.  In 1261 the Haghia Sophia returned to the control of the Orthodox Patriarch. On May 29,  1453,  Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, captured the Constantinople, stopped the looting of the Hagia Sophia and took possession for Islam of the greatest religious edifice in the world. The Aya Sofya continued to function as a mosque until 1934 when Ataturk proclaimed it a museum. The few remaining mosaics of the Haghia Sophia are exquisite work of arts and a remnant of the glory and splendor of the Byzantines.

Just south of the Aya Sofya where now the Blue Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Camii stands, used to be the palaces of the Byzantine Emperors. The Great Palace extended over a vast terraced site stretching from the Hippodrome to the Sea of Marmara. Actually, most of the Sultanahmet neighborhood, including the Mosque, is built on top of the Great Palace. Some 6th century mosaics have been excavated in 1935 and were cleaned and remounted. The result is spectacular and is on display in the Büyük Saray Mozaik Müzesi (Great Palace Mosaic Museum), just behind the Blue Mosque. 

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