Turkey > The Hagia Sophia Mosque

I have had a cold all weekend. Especially at night, the stuffy nose makes it hard to fall asleep. Outside, it is quiet at night. During the day, an endless stream of cars seems to pass by our hotel. Traffic comes to a standstill at the intersection. Horns frequently honk as people want to move forward. At night, there is no honking and practically no traffic. When the alarm goes off, I have some trouble waking up. I take a shower. After breakfast in the hotel’s basement, we walk to the Hagia Sophia Mosque. The Hagia Sophia was built in 537 as a Christian cathedral. At that time, it was the largest church in the world and was meant to give Constantinople prestige as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1453, the city was besieged by Sultan Mehmed II. He succeeded in capturing Constantinople. That same week, the first Friday prayer was held in the Hagia Sophia. Until the twentieth century, the Hagia Sophia continued to serve as a mosque. Afterwards, it became a museum. Recently, in 2020, President Erdogan decided that the Hagia Sophia should regain its function as a mosque. When we arrive at the mosque, we join the line of people waiting for tickets. The line isn’t very long, but it moves slowly. When it is our turn, we can choose to visit only the Hagia Sophia or buy a combination ticket including the museum. We choose the latter. With a ticket in hand, we join the line for security control. Because many groups also arrive around this time, it takes a while before we are called. Inside, we come up a staircase onto the gallery of the Hagia Sophia. Below me, I see the prayer hall with the green carpet. In the corner stands the former throne of the sultan. Above me, I see the impressive dome of the prayer hall. The highest point of the dome is 56 meters tall.

Turkey - The Hagia Sophia was once the largest cathedral of the Eastern Roman Empire

How beautiful this is! The visit is also very different from my visit in 1992. Back then, the Hagia Sophia was still a museum and I walked around downstairs. When we are outside again, we proceed to the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque. This seventeenth-century mosque has always been in use as a mosque. Outside prayer times, the mosque can also be visited by non-Muslims. We walk through the courtyard to the entrance for tourists. There is a queue of several hundred meters. We walk along the queue to its end. The line goes around the mosque and continues outside the grounds. That’s quite far. We join somewhere in the queue. Fortunately, the line moves fairly well. After about half an hour, it is our turn. I take off my shoes and go inside. I hold my shoes in my hand. The exit is on the other side. The dome of the Blue Mosque is beautiful. The mosque is covered with over 20,000 blue Iznik tiles. This is where the mosque gets its nickname. Opposite the Blue Mosque is the Hagia Sophia museum. On large screens in every room, the history of Constantinople and the Hagia Sophia is shown. Through an audio system, every visitor can listen in their own language. When the video ends, the door automatically opens to the next room and the next part of the history. This makes the museum more enjoyable than I had expected beforehand. At the end of the presentation, there is still the opportunity to view the collection of objects from the former Hagia Sophia church. These objects were previously exhibited in the Hagia Sophia when it was still a museum.

Turkey - The impressive prayer hall of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque Blue Mosque

We walk through this quickly. Outside, the wind begins to blow harder. The sky looks threatening. The weather forecast predicts rain at the end of the afternoon. We quickly walk on to the Grand Bazaar. Through a gate, we enter a network of covered streets. Shops are everywhere. Several vendors see us as their next customers. “Don’t you want to buy a carpet?” In a small niche, chairs are placed. We sit down and order Turkish tea. Meanwhile, we watch all the people wandering through the bazaar. On the other side, we leave the bazaar again. Here, the streets are uncovered, but there is plenty of trade. Men with heavy handcarts walk through the crowd. I quickly make room for them. The road descends as we get closer to the Golden Horn. Right next to the New Mosque is the Spice Bazaar. A covered gallery with mainly spice vendors on both sides. The building was originally built as part of the New Mosque in the seventeenth century. The building was financed with taxes levied on imports from Egypt. That is why the market is popularly called the Egyptian Bazaar. Many vendors focus on tourists. With pieces of baklava or cups of tea, they try to attract customers. We decline and choose a terrace just outside the bazaar. Lamb and chicken kebabs are recommended. We have no Turkish lira left and cannot pay by card. They allow us to pay with Euros. Although this probably gives a poor exchange rate, we decide to have lunch here anyway. After lunch, we walk to the Süleymaniye Mosque. After Constantinople fell into Ottoman hands in 1453, many new mosques were built during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Turkey - The Spice or Egyptian market of Istanbul from the 17th century

Many mosques were built following the design of the Hagia Sophia. The Süleymaniye Mosque deviated from this. For a long time, this mosque was the largest in Istanbul. The Süleymaniye Mosque also had a social function. The buildings around the mosque included a hospital, a school, a soup kitchen, and a caravanserai. The mosque is built in the same architectural style as the Blue Mosque and the New Mosque. This means that here too, a large prayer hall is located under an imposing dome. Because of the same architectural style, the mosques resemble each other. Before returning to the hotel, we want to visit the Laleli Mosque. It takes some effort to find the mosque. We pass two other prayer houses. We also see the remains of the old Valens Aqueduct through the city. The 18th-century Ottoman Laleli Mosque with dome and minarets is designed in Baroque style. This makes the mosque narrower and taller. While we look at the mosque, the wind picks up again. It feels like it could rain at any moment. We quickly walk back to the hotel. Opposite the hotel is a small restaurant with four floors. On the top floor, we order something to drink. Outside, dark clouds gather. It doesn’t take long before a heavy rain shower breaks loose. We have been lucky with the weather today. We have been able to see everything without getting wet. In the evening, it is still raining when we want to eat something. We decide to go back to Ertan’s restaurant. This was the restaurant where we ate yesterday. We are warmly welcomed in German. Today I choose a pizza with chicken. Together with a beer, this tastes great. Afterwards, we are offered tea on the house.