Today was catch-up day… We had intentionally left today pretty open to go back and take care of ‘unfinished business’… which meant we had time to buy more carpets! We had planned to start the day with one of the biggest and most impressive sites in Istanbul and then ‘our carpet guy’ was going to pick us up and take us to his warehouse… Read on for more…

The Hagia Sophia (aka Aya Sofya)… “first a great church, then a great mosque, and now a great museum”. It is the chief monument in Turkey surviving from Byzantine times and is probably one of the most interesting spots in Istanbul (and arguably one of the most extraordinary buildings in the history of architecture). Originally a church, it was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453 and is now a museum. It is the fourth largest cathedral in the world (behind St. Paul in London, St. Peter in Rome, and Duomo in Milan) – but it was built 1,000 years prior to those others!

The Hagia Sophia of today has been built three times… the first burned to the ground and then the second was destroyed in riots. The Emperor Justinian ordered the third church to be built and for centuries no building surpassed it. Marble was brought from all over Italy, Egypt, and Greece. Pillars were brought from Ephesus and from the Apollo Temple in Baalbek (now Lebanon). Over 100 masters and 10,000 laborers worked on it and the entire structure was completed in just five years! Can you IMAGINE the logistics of coordinating all those ships and all those people, all those marble deliveries from throughout the Mediterranean and Anatolia, and tens of thousands of workers, without a single cell phone, email, printer, photocopier, or teleconference and building what was the greatest building in the world for centuries, in JUST FIVE YEARS??

Once through the security gates, I was just stunned by how huge the inside of the church was. The dome of the church/mosque/museum was incredible – the entire inside was open, square, and vast. The best way to describe the Hagia Sophia is that it is a huge cube with a dome on top. I expected the interior of the Hagia Sophia be tiled like the Blue Mosque, but it is filled with incredible Byzantine mosaics and is made of amazingly differently colored and patterned marble. The marble was carefully sliced and pieces laid side by side so the patterns of the marble connected across the walls and floor.

The inside of the church was amazing because you could physically see the layers of history on the walls. After 916 years as a Christian church, the Hagia Sophia was taken over by the Ottomans and converted into a mosque when Constantinople fell. The four minarets at the corners of the structure were added during the time that it served as a mosque and the frescoes of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary had been white washed and covered with Arabic writing and shields after the church was converted to a mosque. Since Islam teaches the importance of respect for other religions, the Muslims didn’t destroy the beautiful paintings and mosaics, they just covered them over with stucco. The Hagia Sophia was used as a mosque for almost 500 years and then it was changed once again to a museum after the Turkish Republic was founded. The mosaics are slowly and carefully being unveiled and available to everyone to see. It now stands as a blend of both Christian and Muslim worship sites… much like Istanbul, which as a crossroads city has been known for its tolerance.

After we finished our tour of the Hagia Sophia, we met up with Vural (‘our carpet guy’) who introduced us to his nephew, Minnet (‘our new carpet guy’). Lee and I shopped for carpets in their “warehouse” for the next few hours. It was more like a PENTHOUSE… beautiful beautiful showroom on the top floor of a building near one of the main gates. By the time it was over, we had bought five MORE rugs. It was a lot of fun… I’m way over budget (see Day 1). After signing a mortgage for our new carpets (just kidding…), the least they could do was treat us to lunch. It was our best meal in Istanbul. We ate in a little café at the Grand Bazaar that mainly serves the shop owners. The meal was simple – a salad and chicken/lamb kababs – but it was awesome… Again, it was a real treat to be immersed with the locals and see the more authentic side of Istanbul.

We toodled around most of the afternoon (i.e., a litttttle more shopping), visited the “Little Hagia Sophia Mosque” (just a block from our hotel), and then had dinner across the way in a café overlooking the Marmara Sea. Cats competed for anchovies that had been tossed aside from the boats that had just brought in the day’s catch. Afterward we strolled through the Seafood Bazaar (120 seafood restaurants down a single alley – on the list for our next visit) and then treated ourselves to another round of Turkish Baths to top off the trip.

It has been a really perfect adventure. Phenomenal weather. Frequent overindulgence (see Day 1). And some of the most friendly and hospitable people you’d ever find. Istanbul is truly a great city and I’d recommend a visit (especially during Ramadan) to anyone interested in experiencing this diverse culture with such a welcoming group of locals. I’m already thinking about my next trip back…

Note – we fly out early tomorrow, so this adventure is pretty much wrapped up at this point. Thanks for reading along and joining in the fun.