Istanbul, Turkey

The Lord's Day - August 25

Today, we awoke to the Port of Istanbul in Turkey. Istanbul is the third largest city in Europe with a population of 15 million people. It is actually a city that lies on two continents, Europe and Asia, divided by the Bosphorus River. Since the total population of Turkey is 17 million people, this means that the vast majority of Turkey's people live in and around this metropolis. Constantinople became the eastern Capitol (instead of Ephesus) of the Roman Empire under Constantine. 

Today we took a tour which began with a visit to Chora Museum, which means "countryside" in Old Greek. It received its name because its location was originally outside the walls of the city. It is a church that was originally built on its site along with a monastery by Emperor Justinian I (527-565). Its mosaics and frescoes are known as a monument to Byzantine art. Throughout the narthex, there are a series of mosaics about the life of Mary the mother of Jesus. And another series about Jesus' life and miracles graces the outer narthex (see the miracle at the wedding of Cana picture below). There is also a spectacular fresco of Jesus breaking the gates of hell and rescuing Adam and Eve. Fortunately, archeologists have been able to uncover a substantial number of the mosaics, because of the plaster that was placed over them to hide them when Turkey became Muslim under the Ottoman Empire. After the bus trip to Chora, we traveled to the Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul. It is adjacent to the famed Blue Mosque (pictured below). 

After Constantine I (306-337 A.D.) proclaimed Christianity as the official religion of Byzantium (eastern section of the Roman Empire) in 330, many churches began to be built. The first church built by Constantius II (337-361 AD) was inaugurated in 360 AD. It was known as "Great Church" or "Megalo Ecclesia." It stood for only 44 years and was burned in riots when the Empress Aelia Eudoxia, wife of Emperor Arcadius, attempted to have a statue of herself put in front of the church to the objections of John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople. A second church was completed at the age of Theodosius II (408-450 AD) and was inaugurated on October 10, 415. Beginning from the 5th century, the name "Hagia Sophia," meaning "holy wisdom" or "Holy Spirit," has been associated with this church. Under the rule of Emperor Justinian the Great (527-565), an intense feud erupted in the Hippodrome beside Hagia Sophia, resulting in a fire that spread out to the entire building and burned it down again! After the suppression of the rebellion, Emperor Justinian undertook the construction of the third church which was dedicated on December 27, 537. He had material brought from all over the Empire, including the Hellenistic columns from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The Hagia Sophia suffered a series of misfortunes, both human-made and caused by natural disasters. During the era of the Emperor Andronicus II (1282-1328), it was restored. When the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed the Conqueror ordered the immediate clean-up of the church and Hagia Sophia was converted into a Mosque. It remained so until 1923 when Turkey became a republic after World War I. Since then, it has been preserved as a religious museum.

Our last stop was to the Spice Market in Istanbul! Wow...what a site and what a scene! We passed pet stores where you scoop the amount of chow you want from huge bins. There are many spice stores with large platters of fresh spices causing an amazing aroma to fill the area. It was fun to experiences the hospitality of the Turks who constantly offer you apple tea and other gestures of hospitality. Our guide was a soon-to-be retiring college professor of Turkish language history. She has been trying to retire for several years, but the university cannot find someone with her expertise to replace her! She told us that only 15 percent of the people of Turkey attend a public university, which makes it a great privilege to have a college education. Tomorrow, we disembark from the boat and fly to Athens to continue our sabbatical journey. More in a few days....