Istanbul part two

No one ever said I was bright, I left my CD home instead of bringing it to Costco today. So, all of today's pictures are brought to you by Cathy! These are her pictures that she took. I will try and crop them to fit, but am not all that skilled with photobucket. I will do my best, but her pictures really don't need a lot of cropping. She has a great eye for people and framing a shot. And she doesn't take pictures of flowers instead of people!

Haggai Sophia, easily translates as Holy Wisdom. It was the Emperor's Church and the foundations of the church predate Constantine. It was here that the Eastern Roman Empire found its center. It was here and at St. Peter's in Rome, that the split between the Latin and the Greek Churches was played out. It was here that one of my favorites fathers of the Church was Bishop, John Chrysostom, and from where he was exiled. His bones were brought to Haggai Sophia after his death and burial elsewhere, and there they remained until the last Crusade, when they were brought to St. Peter's where they rest today. What a great gift it would be to return them to Haggai Sophia, where he so loved to preach. Also what a sign of unity between East and West, Latin and Greek, Orthodox and Catholic that return would be.
Here is the entrance to Haggai Sophia, it is the gift of the city (on the right) and the Church itself (on the left) being presented to Jesus and his Mother.


During the time of the Sultans, Haggai Sophia was turned into a Mosque. In the Islamic tradition, no images are allowed in a mosque. All the mosaics were covered in plaster and painted over. They were NOT destroyed. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1919 and the foundation of Turkey as a "secular" state under Ataturk, Haggai Sophia was turned into a museum, where both Islamic traditions and Christian traditions are still visible. These large disks (made of camel leather) bear the names of the sons of Mohamed.

These are the lights, they are suspended from the ceiling by a series of iron rods. They used to be oil lamps, but are today electric.


To light all the lamps vast amounts of oil was needed, and it was kept in these large urns. When the church became a mosque, they turned them into ablution basins for Muslims to wash before prayer. They have served well all these centuries!


From Haggai Sophia, we went to the Grand Bazaar. There was a lot there to see, and nothing really to buy. Of course if you were into hookahs, you would be overwhelmed.


From the Grand Bazaar we went to the Spice Market.


Well, other than a fine lunch on the waterfront, we were back onboard and off to a day at sea. A well deserved break after three days of on the go touring. Our next stop was in Croatia. And once I learn how to spell the name of the town, I'll let you know! Hope you enjoy these pictures and let Cathy know you liked them too!