day 65, Istanbul, Turkey

We are now flying over Turkey....

Aaaah there is Istanbul, historically also known as Byzantium and Constantinople, it is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world.

It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country.

It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents.

In its long history, Istanbul has served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330–395), the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922).

With its strategic location on the Bosphorus peninsula between the Balkans and Anatolia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Istanbul has been associated with major political, religious and artistic events for more than 2,000 years.

Its masterpieces include:
1) the ancient Hippodrome of Constantine,
2) the 16th-century Süleymaniye Mosque,

and
3)6th century Hagia Sophia a former patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul.

Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and to have "changed the history of architecture.

Did you know that it was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Seville Cathedral in 1520.

The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 A.D. on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site (the previous two had both been destroyed by riots). It was designed by two architects, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.

The Church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 15m (49 foot) silver iconostasis. It was the patriarchal church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years.

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over.
The Islamic features — such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside — were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remain ed as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey.

For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Hagia Sophia served as a model for many of the Ottoman mosques such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque of Istanbul), the Şehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, and the Kılıç Ali Paşa Mosque.

Although it is sometimes referred to as Santa Sophia, the Greek name in full is Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, Church of the Holy Wisdom of God. It was to this, the Holy Wisdom of God, that the Church was dedicated ("Sophia" being the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom).
So Santa Sophia should be understood as the italianate title of the church, Holy Wisdom; not as a reference to some saint named Sophia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QMyH5FwY7g

All 3 sites are now under threat from population pressure, industrial pollution and uncontrolled urbanization.....what a pity....

And there is the The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the national mosque of Turkey, and a historical mosque in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire (from 1453 to 1923).

The mosque is one of several mosques known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

It was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2COE1PdOXCI

No, we are not going to visit the mosques here......all of us have gone into withdrawal.....when was the last time we did some shopping girls???

Of course, we are going to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with more than 58 covered streets and over 1,200 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.

Opened in 1461, it is well known for its jewelry, pottery, spice, and carpet shops. Many of the stalls in the bazaar are grouped by the type of goods, with special areas for leather coats, gold jewelry and the like.

The bazaar contains two bedestens (domed masonry structures built for storage and safe keeping), the first of which was constructed between 1455 and 1461 by the order of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.

The bazaar was vastly enlarged in the 16th century, during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and in 1894 underwent a major restoration following an earthquake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmb3Mw7vNCU

Of course we had a huge communication problem because of the language barrier...but a pretty smile is always the best bargaining tool....and we came away with BAGS full of goodies;-)

Now we are off to an early dinner .....all this shopping has made us quite ravenous......and yes, Feroz, there will be belly dancers entertaining us too..........