Hagia Sofia, Underground Basilica Cistern, the Chora Chora Church, and the Old City Walls, Miracle Water Holy Spirit Church, Walked through the market, and Medusa restaurant at night.
The first place this morning was the Hagia Sofia, one of the most beautiful churches - first a Christian church, later a Mosque, and now a museum itself.
The first international trip that President Obama made when he came to office was to the country of Turkey, and the first place he went was the Hagia Sofia. It is that famous and special. It is so big that our Statue of Liberty Lady of the USA could do jumping jacks inside of it (our guide pointed this out).
When President Obama visited, as he was walking through, he stopped to pet this cat. I'll add that photo from a newspost.
And now my photos of Hagia Sofia and a video I took for you of the exquisite interior. My small camera can't do it justice.
The cat has been named "Obama Cat" and he came out as if on cue when we walked over to that part of the church/mosque. He stretched and then jumped up to go sit by this man who was resting.
One of the many mosaics. This is the Virgin May and her eyes were full of compassion. I prefer Buddha, but she will do in a pinch.
This is my video of the place.
Next, the underground cistern...
Underground Basilica Cistern. Extremely cool underground water system. You may remember James Bond weaving through columns in a boat in watery underground churchlike atmosphere in the movie “From Russia with Love”. This was the Underground Basilica Cistern, also known as the " Sunken Palace " or "Yerebatan sarayi" in Turkish. It was built by order of Roman emperor Justinian in 532 AD to be the main water supply of the Byzantine Palace . The cistern can hold up to 80,000 cubic metres of water. It is believed that Justinian built the cistern separately from the basilica, but as the need for water grew, the basilica was also used to store water. It has 12 rows of 28 Corinthian and Doric columns which are 9 metres high (a total of 336), the most intriguing of which are the medusa head columns which are facing sideways and upside-down, the reason for which is unknown.
Medusa heads upside down.
Now a walk along the ancient well-preserved walls, according to historians it is one of the best preserved historical walls in the world. It was a fun walk for a couple of hours winding through the hillside. Built around 450 AD, mightiest city wall in medieval Europe at the time, and was virtually impenetrable at that time for 1,000 years.
We stopped for tea and turkish coffee and our guide taught us about Turkish family life, using examples from his own over-bearing Turkish Jewish mother (his father is Muslim) and what she has done to him. He is a great speaker and honest about life!
What an adorable hat on that sweet man.
Along the way (actually before our walk along the wall) we stopped at the Chora Chora church (took a bus there), too many photos to add here. I just have to quit now. There was so much that happened, and not enough time to write about it. Now I have more compassion for people who have very busy lives and not enough time to reflect. It will have to do.
Here is a video of our guide.
I'll add another video from last night as a sep. post.
xo Rebecca
