Day 34
The Mosques of Old Istanbul
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Merhaba,
Today was our last day in Istanbul and we still had the two big mosques to visit; Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque).
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
The Hagia Sophia was completed in 537. It was originally a Greek Orthodox church, commissioned by the emperor Justinian I, and was converted to a mosque in 1453 after Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire. Hagia Sophia is an extraordinary piece of architecture and engineering.
From 1935 until 2020 it was a museum, then converted back to a mosque. It remains a working mosque that visitors are welcome to tour. The call to prayer can be heard emanating each day from the minarets.
Non-Turkish visitors pay to visit the mosque, which is fair enough. Also, non-Turkish visitors can only visit the mezzanine floor, not the ground floor. So we queued up to buy our tickets while the weather threatened to rain. Like many places of worship, the dress code is strict. Both women and men must cover the shoulders and knees (that means that men must wear long pants, no shorts). Women must also cover their heads. Grandma had her scarf ready.
There were also rules about talking quietly, no flash photography and guided tours were not permitted (they make too much noise).
While the dress code was enforced, the rules about noise were not. There were plenty of tour groups in the building. And everyone was yabbering loudly. So loud that at one point Grandma and Koro had to shout to hear each other. We were disappointed with how badly some people behaved, and they were allowed to get away with it. One lady's head scarf slipped and a security man asked her to fully cover her head. But it was so noisy she couldn't hear the security man and had to ask him to repeat himself!
Hagia Sophia is a magnificent building, but it is showing its age. The mezzanine floor is very uneven, it feels like you're walking on a rolling ship. It is also a seriously big building. From the mezzanine floor, the ground is a long way down. But look up and it is still a long way up to the huge dome.
We are glad we got to visit Hagia Sophia. It is said that when it was built, the groundbreaking design of the Hagia Sophia changed architecture forever. But it was hard to appreciate the place when other visitors were treating it as just another backdrop for their holiday selfies.
The Blue Mosque
So next it was on to the Blue Mosque. This was just a short walk away from the Hagia Sophia, across Sultan Ahmet Park. The Blue Mosque is also a working mosque, used for daily prayers. Between prayer sessions visitors are welcome and entry is free. And the rules are strictly enforced. For example, we had to remove our shoes before entering, tour groups are not permitted, and we had to keep talking to a minimum.
The Blue Mosque is stunning. Completed in 1617, it is in magnificent condition. When you walk inside you can't help but say, "Wow". The interior is decorated by thousands (millions?) of ceramic tiles. Each one is a perfect little masterpiece.
Just after 12:00 pm were started to be ushered out of the mosque. Behind us people were coming in with vacuum cleaners as they started to prepare the mosque for prayers at 1:00 pm.
Outside, just sitting in the courtyard was a nice place to spend some time and admire the exterior of the building.
We were hungry, so we walked across the park again in search of food. We ate lunch in a rooftop restaurant with a terrace overlooking the park. Just before 1:00 pm the call to prayer started. We've enjoyed hearing the call to prayer. It is a calming, soothing sound. This time it sounded like the two mosques, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia were calling to each other. One would call, then the other would respond, and back and forth it would go.
Our Last Evening in Istanbul
For our last evening in Istanbul, we had dinner at a fabulously traditional restaurant on a narrow side street off İstiklal Caddesi. The kitchen was on one side of the road, and the dining tables were on the other side. Waiters elegantly walked the food across the street while avoiding the crazed scooter riders. It was the mad chaos of Istanbul at its best and thoroughly addictive to watch.
Even though it was a Sunday evening, the party on İstiklal Caddesi showed no signs of slowing down. Once again the street was packed with people. We flowed with the crowds back to our hotel.
Should You Visit Türkiye?
Yes. Absolutely you should. If we ever had the opportunity, we'd visit Istanbul again in a heartbeat. There is so much more to explore, to see, to experience. What a mad, chaotic, exhilarating place!
We still feel like there is so much more of Istanbul to see. We hardly touched the Asian side of the city, and did not visit the business districts, nor did we spend much time exploring the Bosphorus. It almost feels like after a week in Istanbul, you should change hotels, move to a different area, and you could happily spend another week exploring a completely different side to the city.
Türkiye is a beautiful country, and the people are very friendly and welcoming. At no time were we ever concerned for our safety. In fact, during the late nights we spent on İstiklal Caddesi we felt safer than we would have if we had been walking down Queen Street in Auckland or Victoria Street in Hamilton.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Türkiye, take it.
Love to you all from Grandma & Koro & Buzzy Bee.