Clear skies in Sofia again this morning, but the temp was down to 34 degrees at 6:45 am when I headed to the airport. Chilly! I had another comfortable flight on Turkish Airlines. They are very efficient processes and friendly staff. They even feed you a small meal on the short flight from Sofia.
After I got through through immigration and customs without any hiccups, I stopped at the “tourism desk” for Turkish Airlines. They directed me to the bus stops two floors below to head into downtown. The bus into town was only about eight dollars for the one hour ride! And the bus was actually pulling out as I walked up, but the attendant stopped it to allow me get on!
My hotel room in the city center for two nights was free – compliments of Turkish tourism and the airline. Because I was willing to book a layover in Istanbul between flights (which I planned anyway), I was able to select from several free lodging options. Great deal!
Istanbul is a large city…at almost 16 million people! The Los Angeles metro area is only ~13 million. So I obviously will only be able to make a tiny scratch on what the city, and country, have to offer. But wow! This a really amazing place!
Hagia Sophia Mosque (Ayasofya Camii), nicknamed, “The Holy Wisdom,” is awe inspiring.
It is a magnificent Byzantine church turned mosque turned museum turned mosque again since 2020. Its impressive dome and intricate mosaics will take your breath away. Massive in scale and scope, it was originally intended by Roman Emperor Constantine to be the largest sanctuary ever. The original structure was built almost 1,700 years ago in the 4th century, back when Constantinople (now Istanbul) became the center of the Roman Empire.
Subsequent Roman rulers rebuilt, added, expanded, and modified, including a massive expansion in 532 A.D. using 10,000 workers. That also included the largest dome on earth at the time. Stone came from sites across the Roman Empire. However, the dome actually collapsed a mere 20 years later. So the next emperor had the dome rebuilt, this time even higher than the latter. And that version still survives to this day.
Catholic and Orthodox Christianity split in the 11th century. And in 1204 during the Second Crusade, many of the treasures in Hagia Sophia were looted. In 1400s, Sultan Mehmet the Conquerer attacked and eventually defeated the Romans. Hagia Sophia was turned into a Mosque in 1453. And in the following centuries, Constantinople continued to flourish under the Ottomans.
The door that separates the Emperor’s private chambers (metatorion) and meeting place for the Synod’s members from the other areas of the Gallery. (6th Century)
Many of the original Christian mosaics remain from the time when Hagia Sophia was a church and have now been restored. They were mostly covered over the past several hundred years.
Subject: The donation made by the Emperor and his wife to Hagia Sophia is portrayed. (12th Century)
Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos on the left, and Empress Zoe on the right.
Subject: The donation made by the Emperor and his wife to Hagia Sophia portrayed. (11th Century)
Subject: Pray (Deesis) Virgin Mary and Saint John Prodromos (John the Baptist – Pioneer) wishing Jesus’s intercession for humanity. (13th Century)
The nearby Blue Mosque.
Dinner was another good meal!
In the evening, I took a 2-hour cruise up the Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait, a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Turkey which is straddled by the city of Istanbul. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara (and then to the Aegean Sea, and on to the Mediterranean). It forms one of the continental boundaries between Asia and Europe. It also divides Turkey by separating Asia Minor from Thrace (or European Turkey). It is the world’s narrowest strait used for international navigation. On average, 160 ships per day transit the Bosphorus into the Black Sea.
Before you go…
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
A Captain’s Adventures 