My Travel Bucket List: Hagia Sophia

---

When you’ve been bitten by the travel bug you really know about it – you spend the majority of your time planning to squeeze in a couple of extra trips around your busy work/life schedule and your clothes spend more time in a suitcase than anywhere else.

For those of us who sadly can’t jet set off as readily we have our travels mapped out in our minds and sometimes documented in a travel bucket list. Today I want to tell you a little about one of the top destinations on my list: Istanbul with Hagia Sophia being, for me, the ultimate representation of the City’s wealth of history and culture.

Hagia Sophia is a remarkably beautiful former place of worship which has stood steadfast since its construction in 537, seeing many changes in its denomination over the years as the City around it has been invaded and converted. If you are heading to Istanbul and are keen to explore the City’s Culture in my opinion Hagia Sophia should be your first stop.

Until 1453 Hagia Sophia served as an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral and the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity, except for the period between 1204 and 1261 when it was converted to a Roman Catholic Cathedral under the Latin Empire. Converted, again, to a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, Hagia Sophia was then finally secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.

I find myself fascinated with the architecture of Hagia Sophia; it is considered a gem with its huge dome representing the epitome of Byzantine design. Hagia Sophia was actually the world's largest Cathedral until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. Many of the building’s features have been shaped through history by the inhabitants of Istanbul (historically Constantinople), with its conversion to an Islamic Mosque from a Christian Cathedral when it was taken by the Ottomans in 1453, seeing the removal of Christian relics as well as religious mosaics and other iconography. Instead adding the Islamic features you can see today such as the mihrab, minbar and four minarets.

When you visit be sure to look out for the Lustration urns – 2 large marble ritual purification urns brought from Pergamon (an ancient Greek city) during the reign of Sultan Murad III between 1574 - 1595. These urns stem from the Hellenistic period and are carved from single blocks of marble. Another sight not to be missed is the Wishing Column – located at the northwest of the building this column with a hole in the middle covered by bronze plates is said to be damp to the touch and has held supernatural powers since St. Gregory the Miracle Worker appeared at the column in year 1200. It is believed that touching the moisture cures many illnesses.

Hagia Sophia was closed to the public for four years before being reopened as a museum by the Republic of Turkey in 1935. If you have been inspired to learn more about the history and beauty of Hagia Sophia visit the Museum’s Website. This is one travel bucket list item that I cannot wait to cross off.

---

Photos

Travel image_1
Image source: ayasofyamuzesi.gov.tr

Travel image_2
Image source: sugraphic.com

Travel image_3
Image source: istanbulistan.net