Cross Road since Prehistoric times...Turkey: A Lesson in History/ Religious tolerance, Bazars, and City Walls

9/13/13

Another full day in Istanbul.

We walked over to Hagia Sofia, which was built in 500 AD by bol of the Romans as a cathedral and a symbol of the empire. It was the first building to use the Dome architecture on a square building. The place is huge and no pictures can do justice to the magnificence and importance of the place. Sofia in Russian/Spanish and Turkish means Wisdom and this is the house of loving wisdom. Inside were mosaics, frescoes and a majestic dome depicting the life of Christ. This is where the Roman emperor came to worship. With the fall of Roman empire, the building was neglected and the crusaders destroyed the building and frescos more. It took the Muslim Turk Mohemet to clean it up, restore it and use it as Mosque to bring it back to its glory. They just covered the frescoes with drapes or white washed them. It is a UNESCO site now and is a museum. Muslims consider Jesus as a prophet and gave him proper respect. ( not sure why there is so much miscommunication between them now…)

Rustam Pasha was a Vajir during the glory days of Ottoman empire. His Mosque has blue tiles and is very pretty ( but small by comparison…he was only a vajir). After visiting Rustam Pasha’s Mosque, we ( Pam, Beth, Jagdish and I) took a taxi to the Chora Museum and city walls ( on the other side of the city). The museum is a gem in the form of a 15^th century church that was converted to a Mosque but all the frescoes and mosaic well preserved. It is the best preserved mosaics of Mary and Jesus’ life. I have included just a sample picture but it is fascinating to realize that the best preserved christen relics are preserved by Muslims and are in Muslim countries. (One wonders why people forget that). Old city walls are best seen ( and climbed) around Chora museum also.

We wandered through the hustle and bustle of the grand bazaar, spice market, and went underground to see the Roman Cisterns. (Romans built these in 15^th century to store the water for the city).

This is all. Good night.