Hagia Sofya Tour
Trip Start
May 07, 2010
1
5
18
Trip End
May 22, 2010
Where I stayed
Istanbul, Turkey
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Today early in the mornign we took the early plane back to Istanbul. Because we were far from the bus station, we took the taxi to the bus station but the taxi driver couldn't understand us that we are interested in going to the bus station, not the airport. After alot of gesturing and attempting to get key words from the guide book, the driver figured out we are looking for the bus Havas that is heading for the airport.
After we arrived at Istanbul, we dropped off our lugagges at Sultan Hostel and head off for the tour of Aya Sofyia. This is one of the most most important structures of the ancient world. Build first by Roman Emperor Justinian in 537 AD and its was the greatest church of Christain dam until 1453 when Mehmet the Conqueror from the Ottoman Empire took over. The Great Atatuk of the modern Turkish empire converted it into a museum in 1935. Inside this grand church we can see a combination of christianity and islam fused in a harmoneous way. The remaining wall mosaics are the only reminder of the by-gone Christian era of Byzantium. The colorfully decorated Arabic Calligraphy beautifully adorned the inside of the church. The four outside minerates were build after the Ottoman empire. We spend a good 3 hours walking around woo and ahh the whole time impressed at the grandeur of the buidling. We then visited the hippodrome and Underground Cistern where during Roman time it was used as a water storage area. We finished the night taking some nice evening photos of the Blue Mosque.
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