Spice Bazaar/ Hagia Sophia

Sept 21 2012

We ventured out and took public transport (3 different modes) this morning to visit the Spice Bazaar.  It really made me miss Kenya, and all the bartering you do when you shop.  

The outside of this huge hall of shops

selling bread outside, and in the background on the left you see a little lady seated, selling bread to feed the birds (pigeons) outside the mosque.  Made me think of Mary Poppins (feed the birds, tuppens a bag)

Inside the bazaar they had and array of spices, tea, dried fruit, baklava (and other desserts) 

Pottery

Pillows, and floor poufs (which I bought and left for when we return)

Turkish delight in the LARGE form. (with hazelnuts inside)

Dried whole cloves of spices

Here are the desserts.  

I can tell this will be my favorite spot when groups come over.  

And I just love these brightly colored lighting options.

And on our way to the Hagia Sophia. 

But first a glimpse of the Blue Mosque.

Going inside, but it was way too crowded, 

and we had already seen a really great mosque (in previous posts)

But just inside this did have a lot of really cool doors, and ceilings. 

A guy Roasting Chesnuts.  

I wish I would have tried them. 

Oh well there's always later. 

Hagia Sophia

(here's more on the Hagia Sophia from Wikipedia)

Hagia Sophia (/hɑːɨə soʊfiːə/; from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.^[1]

The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity,^[2] its dedication feast taking place on 25 December, the anniversary of the Birth of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ.^[2] Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after Saint Sophia), sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom – the full name in Greek being Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, "Shrine of the Holy Wisdom of God".^[3][4]

Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture^[5] and is said to have "changed the history of architecture."^[6] At the time of its construction it was the largest building in the world.^[7] It remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years thereafter, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.^[8]

The church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 49-foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years. It is the church in which Cardinal Humbert in 1054 excommunicated Michael I Cerularius – which is commonly considered the start of the Great Schism.

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, who subsequently ordered the building converted into a mosque.^[9] The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed and many of the mosaics were plastered over. Islamic features – such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets – were added while in the possession of the Ottomans. It remained a mosque until 1931 when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the Republic of Turkey.

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

A group pic, some nice Germany ladies took. 

The original ceilings

The marble threshold, worn from thousands of people walking over it.  

And the lights, my favorite part. 

This work is just amazing to me.  Carved Marble.  

Mary and Jesus. 

Old versus New ceiling restoration.