Aya Sophia

Aya Sophia as seen from the roof of Hotel Angel’s Home

For a more complete history of the Church of Holy Wisdom (the meaning of Aya Sophia), please see the corresponding Wikipedia article. Words and photos, however, can only begin to describe the experience of walking into the church itself. There is a small entry fee, as it is now a museum; it comes to about $6 USD or 10 YTL (Turkish Lire[at the exchange rates when we were in country). The entrance of the building itself faces west with the apse facing East as is customary for many Christian churches. To enter, one walks along the north side of the building past a font of absolution built by the Ottomans along with very old graves.

The font stands in the foreground with the central dome and minaret rising in back.

As one enters through the side, first a very simple, unadorned gallery is entered which runs the length of the exterior of the church. Upon leaving this gallery, however, a second one is entered, which is highly decorated, mainly with polychrome marble (multi-colored). Also, the ceilings all have beautiful Byzantine designs which are mostly intact.

What comes next, however, is really breathtaking. Unfortunately, pictures do not properly convey the immensity of the interior or its grandeur. At least mine don’t. Still more unfortunate, at the time we visited, a hugh scaffolding had been constructed in the very middle of the space which broke it up to some extent and occupied a quarter of the central dome. Despite this, the interplay between the Byantine architecture and decoration, the dark marble used, the Christian symbolism, and the later Mulsim symbolism acts to accomplish what every holy place attempts: to enter a seperate space outside of and very much segregated from the temporal world.

A somewhat blurry shot of what is encountered upon first walking in to the interior.

The most decent shot I managed of the Central Dome and a Sophia Seraphim

A side note: One unfortunate thing about attempting amateur, or worse, photography here is the inability to use a flash, and my personal lack of a tripod. In order to take a decent photo, I had to set my camera to a slow shutter speed and attempt to take as steady a picture as I could. Often, I would take 3-4 shots of the exact same space to attempt to get just 1 good photo. Sometimes I succeeded, mostly not. If you plan on doing any sort of decent photography here, I would highly reccomend bringing a tripod; I wish I had.

To try and convey at least some part of the magnitude of the space, I took a photo from the upper gallery looking past the scaffolding towards the apse. Try to count the flights of stairs. I dare you. Cause I’m certainly not about to do it. Then remember that the top visible part of the scaffolding has certainly not even reached the base of the central dome; nor can one see the bottom of the scaffolding. Now, look at how tiny the people are.

As one makes one’s way around the scaffolding, towards the apse, the galleries on either side on the higher story and on the ground level create an impression of infinite space.

Finally, the apse is reached. It really does take some time; between the omnipresent detail of the decoration and the magnitude of the structure itself, visitors have a tendency to stand and gawk, looking up and all around, jaws agape. I know I did. Once you get past that, you do actually have a relatively considerable distance to cross from the entrance to the apse itself. Upon reaching the apse, however, gorgeous stain glass windows, a mosaic of the Virgin, and an Islamic pulpit are displayed.

After taking in Aya Sophia from the ground floor, it is possible to take a series of ramps up to the second floor gallery which has some fantastic mosaics along with excellent views out into the main space. This gallery wraps around the front and both sides, extending almost all the way to the apse. On the way to the ramp, a visitor will encounter two very interesting things. First, a large egg shaped piece of marble. Frankly, I don’t know what this is; if anyone has any idea, I’d love to know. Secondly, a huge square column encased in brass. In the middle of the brass is a hole, in which the thumb is placed. As the legend goes, by one’s thumb in the hole and making a full circle with the hand, one will receive holy wisdom and good luck.

Now, various shots of the upper galleries:

The front, second story gallery spanning the two side galleries

One of the side galleries; note the polychrome marble on the pillars on either side.

Me, from across the corner of the second story gallery; I love the dark marble columns

Somehow, the huge signs of Arabic calligraphy don’t break up Sophia at all but add to it

It is a damn shame Turkey is so seismically active…

The mosaics on the second floor gallery are also quite stunning, although most seem to have been added some time after the original construction by late Byzantine emperors. In these mosaics they depict themselves offering gifts to Christ. The mosaic of the Virgin, Christ, and the Baptist, however, I believe to be original.

Finally, as a parting shot: