Tuesday

Tuesday

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We kicked off the day with a bus tour around Istanbul – good views of Asia (remember, the Bosphorous River divides the city between 2 continents), as well as the old city walls and new sculptures around the city. But were we ready for the grandeur of Hagia Sophia? No way. This is truly one of the world’s most spectacular buildings. Built in the 6th century with a name meaning Divine Wisdom, this monumental structure was a church for nearly 1,000 years before being converted to a Mosque by the Ottomans in 1453. At the entrance, we were greeted by a beautiful Mosaic showing Emperor Constantine presenting Mary with the city (although it was founded by the Greeks as Byzantium in 657 BCE, he built it up as the capital of the Roman Empire in 324 CE and renamed it Constantinople – it became Istanbul when the Ottomans took over) and Emperor Justinian presenting her with this building that he had just completed. Pictures do not do the interior justice, but you can see how cavernous it is. Among other “improvements” the Muslim Ottomans put up huge symbols with the names of Allah and Mohammed – poof, now it’s a Mosque! Although the Christians prayed facing Jerusalem, you can see that the new sultan built his altar a few degrees to the south, so it would face Mecca! And what could we possibly do after an afternoon in the presence of such greatness? We went downtown for an authentic taste of Turkey -- right. :)

That’s Asia behind Rach!
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Fountain on the outskirts of the old city walls
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Rach with random Turkish man in front of Hagia Sophia
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Inside Hagia Sophia
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Mary gets a city and a church
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An Islamic facelift
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Can't we all just face the same direction?

Facing Mecca
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A “real” Turkish evening
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