The Incomparable Symbols of Two Great Empires

On a Sunday and following Saturday, on the occasion of Evie's mother Susan's visit, we finally visited the two greatest tourist sights in Istanbul: Ayasofya and Topkapi Palace. These two places are more historically awesome than anywhere we'd ever been. They both sit right next to each other on the Seraglio Point, the oldest part of the city and the site of the original Greek settlement of Byzantium in 667 BC. This point of land itself is awe-inspiring, sitting at the meeting point of the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the harbor of the Golden Horn (click on map).

On this point Justinian built what is probably the greatest church in Christendom, Ayasofya, in 537 AD. It was the center of relgious life of the Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire. Later, after Mehmet the Conqueror conquered Istanbul and made it the capitol of the Ottoman Empire, he built Topkapi Palace on this point between 1459 and 1465. Both of these sites have stood for centuries as symbols of their empires. We joined the millions of travellers who have come to see these two places, and were not disappointed.

Ayasofya, the Greatest Church Ever Built?

Emperoror Justinian the Great dedicated Haghia Sophia, the church of Divine Wisdom, on December 26, AD 537. For nearly a thousand years, it was the cathedral of Constantinople and the center of religous life of the Byzantine Empire. After the Turkish conquest in 1453, it became a mosque. In 1935 Ataturk converted it into a museum.

The exterior view, from the south, photo taken in August. The massive 1500-year-old dome is visible. The two concrete buttresses in front were added in the 14th century to reinforce, and the four minarets were added in Ottoman times.

Inside: the scale is tremendous. Look at the size of the people.

Walking into this ancient building was truly overwheliming. How can a room this huge be so old, almost 1500 years!?! The dome is 32 meters in diameter, 56 meters above the floor (a 15 story building)! The nave is 80 meters long, and the two half-domes in front and back of the main dome allow the main dome to be seen from everywhere, towering above everything. Light pours in the windows. Various colors of marble and polished, carved columns at every level.

The soaring sense of space and peace is remarkable. Here you can see the main dome, the East semi-dome, and the windows and columns on the South side.	The dome, the largest until St. Peters in Rome was built, is under some repairwork.	Muslim and Christian decorations coexist peacefully in the museum, reminding of the faith history of this city.
The detail of the columns is amazing!	Glittering gold mosaics were plastered over when it was a mosque. Now some have been uncovered and restored.	This mosaic of the Virgin Mary is the most striking, sitting right above the front apse of the church.

When Mehmet the Conqueror made this city Muslim in 1453, Haghia Sofia became Aya Sofya Mosque, the Christian mosaics were plastered over, calligraphic Koran pasages were installed, a Sultan's loge was built, and a prayer niche facing Mecca (a few degrees South of the axis of the Church) was installed. The current state as a museum allows all this to co-exist: some of the mosaics have been uncovered and restored. What a history!

Topkapi Palace, Home of the Sultans

Mehmet the Conqueror built the great palace of the Ottoman Sultans on the best spot in the world, Seraglio point. The palace has amazing views, of the Bosphorus to the East and the Golden Horn and the city to the North and West. The palace used the ancient Byzantine sea walls for defense. The palace was the center of power for the huge Ottoman Empire, not only where the Sultan lived but where justice and administration for the Empire was carried out. There are four courts of the Palace: The First Court is the outer grounds and was open to the public. The Second Court, entered by the huge gate seen below (also see the model pictured below) was the seat of the Divan, the imperial council. The Third court was smaller and was open to only high government officials. The Fourth Court housed private gardens for the Sultan and family.

The middle gate, allowing entrance from the outer grounds to the Second Court.	A model of the palace complex, looking Northeast towards the Bosphorus
Inside the Second Court, where the Divan met.	Inside the Third Court, where you can see the impressive Treasury exhibit.

In Topkapi today you can see an exhibit of jeweled items from the Imperial Treasury, some holy relics such as some of the Prophet Mohammed's hairs and Moses' staff, and a collection of armour in the Armory.

The Sultan's private Fourth Court	The views across the Golden Horn from the Fourth Court are great.

Much of the legend and interest of Topkapi Palace has always been the Harem. This area contained the Sultan's private apartments, as well as the women who were kept guarded there by Black Eunuchs. We realized that these women, essentially personal slaves of the Sultan, must have had a hard life despite the lavish surroundings.

The beautiful tile work that is everywhere in the Sultan's apartments and Harem.

The "Terrace of the Favorites", where the women of the Harem lived in seclusion until 1909.

It took us a few months, but we finally saw the two greatest sites in Istanbul, amazing monuments to two of history's empires, Byzantine and Ottomn, that are no more.