Constantinople

Arrival in Istanbul and Aya Sofya

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Turkey 2003

In October 2003, we went to Turkey.  For years, I’d wanted to go.  Bryan only said “Midnight Express” and declined.  Finally, we decided to do it.  We’d spend some time in Istanbul, then fly to the southern coast for a week on a “blue cruise” gulet in the Mediterranean, and then a few days in the middle at Cappadocia.   Turkey is where the East meets West. Constantinople. Istanbul. Byzantine churches and muezzin calls from minarets. Legends of the Orient Express, the Sultans, the Bosphorus and thousands of ancient sites. Colorful kilims, tile mosaics, and intricate woodwork designed to make one contemplate and get lost in thought. Evil eyes, pistachios, lanterns and tea in tulip shaped glasses. We’d go from October 3 to 26…just over 3 weeks there.

Our route in Turkey
Our route in Turkey

Arrival in Istanbul and Aya Sofya

We took a Turkish Airlines direct flight from Chicago on the night of 10/3/03. I was awake to see the lights on in the Lake District of Scotland/England and caught another travel bug flying over Romania and the Black Sea. We arrived on time after 10 hours in the air.

Someone from our small hotel (Hotel Valide Sultan) was on hand to greet us and get us back to the hotel…although we almost missed him because his sign read “KAROL, BIYRAN, SULTAN VALIDE”

I love that haze of arrival. You’re tired and overwhelmed with the new weather / colors / language / smells / sights…it’s a brilliant awake dream. The car made it’s way into the old city–increasingly twisting into smaller roads and more condensed spaces. We checked in to sunny room #309…our hotel next door to the graceful Aya Sofya and her buttressed terra cotta colored walls and minarets, and with a view of the Sea of Marmara and Bosphorus. I opened the windows to the breeze and sun and we tucked into a 3 hour nap.

We wandered out in the evening, finding an open air restaurant (Mesale) in the shadow of the Blue Mosque. Lanterns and lights hung everywhere. Tables were covered with kilim cloths. Chairs and benches cushioned with thousands of kilimed pillows and throws. Wonderful smells of grilled meats, baking fla,t bread and the narghile pipes’ delicate smells of burning apple & cherry. We heard the gurgling of the water in the pipes. The tatting of tesbih prayer beads working through practiced hands. The tinkling of the tulip shaped tea glasses as sugar cubes went in, miniature spoons stirred, and the glasses returned to their tiny red and white saucers. Clacking of backgammon pieces from the multiple games going on around us. Cries of the gulls riding the air around the Blue Mosque’s 6 minarets. There was a gentle breeze. It was the perfect evening. We ordered teas, bread and chicken kabobs with rice and soaked it all in. As dusk came, there was crackle in the air as the mosques began the round of the call to prayer…”Allah Akbar…” Slowly, candles were lit and tiny lights were turned on as Istanbul took on the night. Ice cream vendors came out. Hungry cats circled our legs. We were awake but dreaming.

The next morning, the call to prayer from the loud speakers on the mosque next door woke us with a start just before daybreak. Our very first stop could be nothing other than Aya Sofya. I have been longing to see this magnificent place since first reading about it. At breakfast, I sat in the dining room facing the awesome building. Church of the Holy Wisdom built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian about 1,500 years ago…dedicated on December 26, 537 as Hagia Sophia. It was a quantum leap in architecture at the time–and would not be rivaled for another 1,000 years.

Aya Sofya's outside walls
Aya Sofya’s outside walls
Aya Sofya
Aya Sofya

Hagia Sophia, now Aya Sofya, is an ornament on earth. Inspiration…and prize. In 1453, Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople. “The citizens had retreated to Hagia Sophia in unmeasurable multitudes, hoping for a miracle deliverance. The Turks entered Hagia Sophia before the first hour of daylight had passed. Upon the chaotic interruption of his mass, the Patriach disappeared into the walls of Sophia. Legend says that he will return on judgment day, or when Istanbul is returned to the Greeks. Mehmet kneeled in prayer towards Mecca and the church became Aya Sofya the Mosque.” “When it first opened, Hagia Sophia was almost entirely covered in mosaic tile, which illuminated by thousands of candles, created a darkly golden second sky. The tinkling sound of pieces dropping to the ground was familiar to visitors until the 19th century restoration.” Today it is a museum. We lined up for entry before she opened.

Aya Sofya
Aya Sofya
Beautiful light
Beautiful light

Once she opened, the line moved slowly through the first set of doors. I caught sight of the colors, the arabic rondels inside and ran over to enter through the Emperor’s door. I had such an urge to just be inside there. The threshold there was a grey marble slab–chipped and yet smooth, melted or warped into almost a bowl where people had entered over the years. As much as I hurried to get inside, I could barely move when I got in. I stopped within five feet of the door and tried to take it all in.

Aya Sofya's rondels
Aya Sofya’s rondels

A huge open room, with light streaming in windows high in the dome. Yellows and golds, candles, smokey sunbeams. There are stained glass windows over the nave. And a mihrab near the nave in the direction of Mecca. One Sultan had a loge built for him to worship privately between a delicately carved gate of gold. Massive signs in Arabic hang among the mosaics of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. There are hanging lanterns, each holding 48 glass cloche vases. The mosaics are made of tiny pieces of tile (1/4 inch square) in a gold that sparkles in the dim light. There’s a dusty smell…I think it’s the smell of history, or antiquity, of thousands of untold stories witnessed. Words or photos cannot do it justice. We wandered around for over two hours in there. And then sat for another hour absorbing it. I loved the feel of the cold stone floor under my hands as I leaned back to look up. What a remarkable old place.

Looking up in Aya Sofya
Looking up in Aya Sofya
Mosaic of tiny golden tiles
Mosaic of tiny golden tiles
Turkey Flag
Turkey Flag