Constantinople...or, Istanbul!

I was extremely blessed a few weekends ago. Not only was I invited to tag along with a few ITI students to Istanbul; a place I have always wanted to experience! But my husband generously gave me 4 days and 3 nights away all by myself! And, my wonderful sister Elizabeth sacrificed her 3 day weekend to come assist Andrew with the boys.
And so, 4 of us ITI students set off on an early Thursday morning flight to Istanbul. Can I just say, Turkish Airlines is an absolute delight! Big comfortable seats, delicious 5-7 item meals aesthetically presented, free unlimited coffee/wines/juices, etc. I think I'm too used to the RyanAir budget experience. :) I missed my boys the moment I left them, but once I was on the plane, I was able to relax, and prepared to enjoy my time. After a smooth 2 hour flight, easy customs check, and fairly easy metro journey, we found ourselves in Sultanahmet Square, which links the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. What perfect weather with brilliant sunshine and everyplace overflowing with vivid tulips and spring blossoms!

 Becca, Alex, Aoife and I waited for Becca's friend, Michelle (an American who lives in Turkey), to arrive. 

 Lovely Aoife!

The Obelisk of Theodosius; originally an obelisk from the Temple of Karmak in the time of Thutmose III (1490 B.C) which was brought to Constantinople by Theodosius the Great in 390. Its marble base depicts Theodosius at a horse race, the like of which were held in this square.

It happened to be tulip festival weekend and a large array was planted in a colorful pattern in front of the Hagia Sophia.

The Hagia Sophia (Greek for "Holy Wisdom")! Built in the year 537 as a Byzantine Christian church under the orders of Emperor Justinian I, it was transformed into a mosque by the Ottomans in 1454 after the fall of Constantinople, and now is a museum.

 We found Becca's friend Michelle, who had just flown in from Sivas, Turkey. She was a great and accommodating tour guide!

 

 Washing site for Muslim practice installed outside during the years the Hagia Sophia was used as a mosque.

The first of many glorious mosaic icons of the weekend met our eyes upon entering. This is the image of Christ Pantocrator over the imperial door. The inscription on the book Christ holds reads, "Peace be with you. I am the light of the world."

 

Stucco copy of decisions taken by the Synod Assembly in 1166.

Bell with Christian symbols.

 

Although most of the icon mosaics and frescoes were plastered over during Muslim use of the building and most of the decor visible is mosque ornamentation, the large mosaics were uncovered in the 1930's by the Byzantine Institute of America. We loved seeing the Blessed Virgin in the main apse there - Mother of all!

 The Omphalion - the spot where the Eastern Roman emperors were crowned.

Gold mosaic patterns adorn the upper imperial gallery.

In the second floor corridors, some beautiful mosaic icons have been uncovered. This is a 13th century panel called the "Deesis" (entreaty) with the Blessed Mother and John the Baptist requesting Christ's intercession for humanity.

The Comnenus mosaic dating from 112 depicting Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene.

 

View to the Blue Mosque. 

The Marble Door from the 6th century which was used by participants of synods; they entered and left from this door.

 The Empress Zoe mosaic from the 11th century - Christ Pantocrator flanked by Emperor Constantine IV and Empress Zoe.

 

 We found a small mosaic perhaps of a Church Father? right next to some scaffolding.

Istanbul is crawling with cats; one apparently favored the Hagia Sophia's interior. We can't say we blamed him!

We only found one doorway arch with the original crosses completely uncovered - all others are redecorated with floral designs.

The southwest door. Mary hold the Christ Child who is giving a blessing while the Emperor Constantine stands on the right presenting the city of Constantinople and Emperor Justinian on the left presents a model of the Hagia Sophia. The inscription next to Constantine says "Great emperor Constantine of the Saints."

 Then we headed across the square to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, commonly called the "Blue Mosque". This was built by Sultan Ahmed to surpass the Hagia Sophia and was completed in 1616.

Looking back through the entrance gates to the Hagia Sophia.

 

 Only men can enter the body of the mosque for prayer.

 The women pray at the very back behind partitions. Quite the introduction for our first day in a Muslim country, including hearing several calls to prayer being blasted over the loudspeakers attached to those minarets!

We had a lovely hotel right outside of Sultanamet Square; close enough to walk but far enough away to be in the residential area away from the tourists. We stayed in the family room on the top floor in this small section behind the main hotel body (pictured above) and we were quite comfortable and felt safe. :) We enjoyed lovely full breakfasts with Turkish cheeses, breads, jams, fruit, coffee/tea, fruit and veggies.

The breakfast balcony overlooked a busy section of the Sea of Marmara. Every morning, I thought how much Michael would have enjoyed watching the boats and hearing their horns.

On our second day, we headed out to Topkapi Palace, and stopped first at Gulhane Park, which is adjacent to the palace. What glorious sights met our eyes!

We are not strange at all...

Alex, being Palestinian, always fit the bill.

 There are many stray dogs and cats in Istanbul; this one took it upon himself to follow us around and protected us from strangers and cars, running and growling after them.

Entering Topkapi Palace through the Gate of Salutation. This palace was the home of the Ottoman sultans from about 1465-1856. At its peak, it was home to nearly 4,000 people and contained mosques, a hospital, bakeries and a small mint. The palace is comprised of four courtyards, and large harem quarter and many smaller buildings.

 

Entrance to the imperial council room.

View of the third courtyard and audience chamber building.

The Bosphorus Strait which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and divides the European side of Istanbul from the Asian side. We perused a few museum rooms with kitchen and china items, and also the imperial treasury with some magnificent jewels and also some supposed holy relics! We saw the sword of King David, the staff of Moses, the turban of Joseph, and the arm of St. John the Baptist, in addition to some of Mohammad's personal effects. 

We had a bit of fun at Alex's expense - I don't think he minded too much. The tile work throughout the harem section of the palace was incredible!

 I loved the mother-of-pearl mosaics. 

"I'm in tile heaven! I just wanna be a tile!" Aoife was quite enchanted.

 

Imperial hall.

 After 4 hours, we had experienced enough tile and regal-ness, and paused to catch our breath on the last open-air balcony before heading out.

 Nice views of the Bosphorous and the Galata Tower...and lovely Becca.

 

 So many colorful, inciting windows of baklava, Turkish delights and berry pastries line the streets!

 We stood in line briefly here at this nondescript entrance to make our way down into the Basilica Cistern. This cistern is one of the few out of many cisterns underneath the streets of Istanbul that have survived until present age. Built in 532 by Emperor Justinian, it housed water piped in from the Belgrade Woods 19 km outside the city via aqua-ducts. It is quite an impressive exhibit!

Two Medusa head figures lie in the northwest corner of the cistern propping up pillars. It is believed that they were relocated here after the destruction of a antique building from the Roman period.

 

 

 Then we ventured over to the Grand Bazaar, which is very overwhelming, with shop keepers trying to get your attention from every side, and a bit too touristy for our like, but very colorful and interesting! It covers 61 streets with over 3,000 shops!

We were stuck in this pedestrian traffic jam going across to the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. This market we found to be just as plentiful in shops, but slower paced and not as catering to tourists. Becca found a nice Turkish rug and we picked up some delicious Turkish delights here.

Upon exiting the spice market, we were at the waterfront and hopped on a local ferry to cross the Bosphorus to the Asian side of Istanbul for dinner.

And....we ate a treat at Cold Stone Creamery!! This was a highlight for some of us Americans who hadn't enjoyed it for almost up to two years...

Saturday, we had another ambitious day planned covering some uncharted territory by Michelle, but with her trusty GPS in hand, she did marvelously in granting our sightseeing requests! We took the metro north and came upon the 4th century Theodosian walls of old Constantinople. Of course, we had to climb up on them!

 

We turned into an older neighborhood to visit the Chora Church museum and stopped to shop for some tiled hot pads.

Chora Church means "Church of the Holy Savior in the country" and was called this because it was built outside the original city walls in the early 5th century. Due to partial collapse the majority of the church as seen today was reconstructed in the 12th century, with the impressive mosaic interior completed between 1315-1321. Of course with the fall of the Christian empire, it was converted into a mosque, but it remains unique to the other remaining Christian buildings of Istanbul because its almost untouched Christian art work.

Front entrance into the narthex.

 

 St. Peter

 St. Paul

The work on the domes is incredible...well, it all is! 

 

Miracle at the wedding feast in Cana.

 

 This column provides a good example of Muslim perspective - the faces or eyes of many of the saints were removed, but I find it interesting they leave the faces of angels.

We appreciated seeing a large portion dedicated to scenes from the Blessed Virgin's life.

 

The parecclesion, or side chapel, was used for family burials and memorials and is covered in frescoes.

Famous Anastasis icon depicting Christ breaking down the gates of hell and pulling Adam and Eve out.

 Church Fathers

We sat in the courtyard directly facing the Chora Church for a cup of çay, Turkish tea (pronounced as we would say chai).

 

From the Hagia Sophia, we walked through a Kurdish neighborhood in search of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Church of St. George. It was real exposure to how people live here. The children were very friendly.

Then we found it tucked away in a courtyard; such a plain exterior, but such beauty and sacredness inside!

It was truly a haven of peace and grace for us after the Muslim-saturated city.

 Amazing iconostasis

The main reason for our visit - the relics of St. Gregory the Great and St. John Chrysostom!!

The bones of St. Gregory.

 And a relic of St. Basil was there too.

 

Also here, are the remains of 3 woman saints, one being Mary, the woman who went to anoint Christ in the tomb.

A section of the pillar upon which Christ was scourged! The other section is in Israel. (I have since learned that this piece of column in Rome, is not from the pillar of Christ, but more of a pious tradition for remembrance dating from medieval time.)

 

It is places like these, that contain the Truth, the Word, and especially relics of holy people, that one never wants to leave - just a tiny taste of the joy that must be known in Heaven in the final participation of the Communion of the Saints!

 We walked along the Golden Horn, a major waterway inlet of the Bosphorus along northern Istanbul to the Galata Bridge which we crossed to walk up the road for vigil Mass.

 Off the busy main street of Istikal is the Roman Catholic Church of St. Anthony of Padua. Through the arches we walked, and I do believe we all exhaled a sigh of gratitude to be on Christian ground.

As we walked inside, beautiful music greeted our ears, which I recognized as Arvo Pärt's, and sure enough, they were rehearsing for a "Bach Meets Arvo Pärt" concert to be held that evening. We listened for a bit, relished some time in front of the Blessed Sacrament - what food to our thirsty souls - and then attended Mass in a side chapel. It had only been 3 days since hearing church bells or going to Mass, but after exposure to a densely non-Christian culture, it was spiritual relief. Some American students introduced themselves to us after Mass, and upon discovering they were from University of Dallas and knew of my two siblings there, we invited them to go to dinner with us. The small Catholic world is so much fun.

We had a nice long walk back after dinner and experienced some of the Istanbul weekend night life. Here is the Galata Tower.

 On our last day in Istanbul, we decided to visit the Archeological Museums and do a bit more shopping. This museum has a good size collection of Egyptian, Turkish, Hellenistic, and Roman artifacts. Here we are in front of a basalt portal lion statue from the 8th century B.C.!

 The main building was lined with sarcophagi, some with Christian emblems. There are 3 red granite ones that belonged to the Byzantine emperors, and one most likely belonged to Constantine...maybe even this one below...

Lots of tombstones, some hand painted, and quite a few family tombstones, as below.

Quite intricately-carved Roman sarcophagus from the 3rd century A.D.

Zeus.

I enjoyed these Roman lady statues, very noble, dignified, and feminine.

Part of the gates from the Theodosian Walls that we were on yesterday.

 There were some pieces taken from the Hagia Sophia.

A marble relief of the Blessed Mother.

Liturgical spoon, crosses and reliquaries used once upon a time in old Constantinople.

With my dear Irish girl, Aoife. It was a GREAT trip with the perfect group of friends and as much as I enjoyed the time away to learn and reflect, I was very happy to come back to these two munchkins!