• About

Larry Muffin At Home

~ Remembering that life is a comedy and the world is a small town.

Larry Muffin At Home

Tag Archives: Justinian

Istanbul or Constantinople

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Constantinople, Istanbul, Justinian, Mehmet II, Ottoman, Sultanahmet, Turkey, Turkiye

Many decades ago a movie called Midnight Express (1978) made a bit of a splash, it was the story, a true story we were told, of an American tourist Billy Hayes who spent some time in jail in Turkey for drug smuggling. Some 30 years later the truth came out and the protagonist of the movie confessed that he had in fact dealt drugs and was guilty as charged and he invented a fanciful story for a movie and book deal to make money. At the time Turkey got a black eye out of it, the country was seen as corrupt and dangerous, not a place to go to and it fuelled all the usually silly story from uninformed tourists about any and all countries they might travel to including innocuous Liechtenstein.

I travelled to Istanbul for the first time for my 40th birthday and spent a week there. I was living in Jordan at the time and it was an easy direct flight a little over two hours. The weather was cold being March but Istanbul has the most spectacular geographic location in the world. With the Sea of Marmara, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus at the border of Asia and Europe, it is magical. Istanbul the former Imperial Capital of the Ottoman Empire and before that known as Constantinople, the New Rome of Emperor Constantine, a city that was created for greatness from the beginning, it is reflected in its architecture and history. Turkey is an ancient country with a rich culture and history full of exoticism. As a diplomat I always wanted to be accredited to the Sublime Porte, though the Turkish Foreign Ministry is no longer known as that since 1923.

sublimeporte

La Sublime Porte (today)

Porte is French for “gate”. When Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sealed an alliance with King Francis I of France in 1536, the French diplomats walked through the monumental gate or Bab-ı Ali in order to reach the Vizierate of Constantinople, seat of the Sultan’s government. French being the language of diplomacy, the French translation Sublime Porte (the adjective being unusually placed ahead of the word to emphasize its importance) was soon adopted in most other European languages, including English, to refer not only to the actual gate but as a metaphor for the Ottoman Empire.

The particular term was used in the context of diplomacy by Western States, as their diplomats were received at the Porte. During the second constitutional era of the Empire after 1908, the functions of the classical Divan-ı Hümayun were replaced by the reformed Imperial Government, and “porte” came to refer to the Foreign Ministry. During this period, the office of the Grand Vizier came to refer to the equivalent to that of a Prime Minister, and viziers became members of the Grand Vizier’s cabinet as government ministers.

Francois_I_Suleiman

King Francis I of France and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent

Istanbul as a former capital has a lot to offer and much to visit, art, culture and good restaurants. I remember staying and walking in the older part of the city, Sultanahmet neighbourhood where you find the Topkapi Palace, the Sultanahmet or Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, the Hippodrome and numerous museums and of course the Grand Bazaar.

I always chose an hotel in Sultanahmet because it is the neighbourhood to stay in when visiting Istanbul. I stayed on Yerebatan Caddesi because it is central to everything. Istanbul is a huge city, I could either walk of take a taxi to my destinations, however you have to be mindful that car traffic, in this city hugged by the sea on so many fronts, is horrendous in the full sense of the word.

On this first visit some 19 years ago, I visited the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) this great church built by Emperor Justinian in 532 A.D. or C.E. as we say today. This great Cathedral was far larger than the original St-Peter basilica in Rome or the Lateran Cathedral of Rome, it was the first church in all Christendom. In its 1400 year history it was a church, then a Mosque and now a Museum. Its dome is 108 feet in diameter or 33 meters, its crown rises 180 feet or 55 meters above the floor. The building is 270 feet long or 82 meters and 240 long or 72 meters wide. A huge building for its time considering that none of it is steel, all brick and mortar. The architects were Isidore the Elder and Anthemius, it was completed in 6 years. You have to consider that centuries later it would take 100 years to build any great cathedral in Europe.

It is to this day awe inspiring and magnificent to see. The Sultan Mehmet II came to pray here upon entering the city in 1453. He was very impressed with the structure and decreed it be converted into a mosque.

hagiasophialast

The Hagia Sophia as it looked as a Christian Church (prior to Ottoman additions)

RomanEmpire3

Hagia Sophia as it looks today

The Hagia Sophia has two levels, the ground floor and a gallery above. The presence of the two levels mean that people were organized according to gender and class when services were held at the cathedral. In Hagia Sophia a part of the gallery was used as an imperial lodge, from which the empress and occasionally the emperor attended the services.

The central or Imperial Door was reserved for the use of the emperor and his attendants, and provides the most perfect approach to the interior of the church.

The decorations within the Hagia Sophia at the time of construction were probably very simple, images of crosses for instances. Over time this changed to include a variety of ornate mosaics.

“There are a number of mosaics that have been added over the centuries, imperial portraits, images of the imperial family, images of Christ and different emperors, those have been added since Justinian’s day. Many survived to this day the conversion to a Mosque. The Apse Mosaic in the Hagia Sophia shows the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.  Dedicated on March 29, 867, it is located 30 meters (almost 100 feet) above the church floor.

In 1453 the Byzantine Empire ended, with Constantinople falling to the armies of Mehmed II, the Ottoman Sultan.

The Byzantine Empire had been in decline for centuries and by 1453 the Hagia Sophia had fallen into disrepair, the Christian cathedral made a strong impression on the new Ottoman rulers and they decided to convert it into a mosque.

Outside the church, four minarets would eventually be added, these four slender pencil-shaped minarets are more than 200 feet (60 meters) tall and are among the tallest ever constructed.

Changes occurred on the inside as well, after the Ottoman conquest the mosaics were hidden under yellow paint with the exception of the Theotokos [Virgin Mary with child] in the apse. In addition Monograms of the four caliphs were put on the pillars flanking the apse and the entrance of the nave.

The style of the Hagia Sophia, in particular its dome, would go on to influence Ottoman architecture, most notably in the development of the Blue Mosque, built in Istanbul during the 17th century.

Istanbul_Blue-Mosque_iStock_000012439308Small-540x378

The Sultanahmet or Blue Mosque. (it is called blue because of the blue tile decoration inside) 

In 1934, the government of Turkey secularized the Hagia Sophia and turned it into a museum. The Turkish Council of Ministers stated that due “to its historical significance, the conversion of the (Hagia Sophia) mosque, a unique architectural monument of art located in Istanbul, into a museum will please the entire Eastern world and its conversion to a museum will cause humanity to gain a new institution of knowledge.

To be continued… 

Some photos of the stunning Christian Mosaics remaining inside the Hagia Sophia. The Ottoman Turks did not destroy the Christian art of the building when it was converted to a Mosque.

hagia-sophia-mosaicos

images-2

Mosaïque de de la Porte impériale, Sainte-Sophie (Istanbul, Turquie)

images-3

images-4

img_3089

images-5

Hagia Sophia

Click on photos to enlarge

Fans of the Muffin

  • travelwithgma
  • Cuisine AuntDai
  • A Beijinger living in Provincetown
  • theislandheartbeat
  • LES GLOBE-TROTTERS
  • Antonisch
  • ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2020-22
  • ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2010-20.
  • The Body's Heated Speech
  • Unwritten Histories
  • Philippe Lagassé
  • Moving with Mitchell
  • Palliser Pass
  • Roijoyeux
  • Fearsome Beard
  • Verba Volant Monumenta Manent
  • Spo-Reflections
  • KREUZBERGED - BERLIN COMPANION
  • My Secret Journey
  • Buying Seafood
  • Routine Proceedings
  • The Historic England Blog
  • Larry Muffin At Home
  • Sailstrait
  • dennisnarratives
  • Willy Or Won't He
  • Prufrock's Dilemma
  • domanidave.wordpress.com/
  • theINFP
  • The Corporate Slave
  • OTTAWA REWIND

Blog Stats

  • 117,353 hits

Birthplace of Canada

C1A 1A7, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Follow Larry Muffin At Home on WordPress.com

Archives

  • June 2022 (11)
  • May 2022 (11)
  • April 2022 (11)
  • March 2022 (14)
  • February 2022 (9)
  • January 2022 (14)
  • December 2021 (17)
  • November 2021 (12)
  • October 2021 (12)
  • September 2021 (13)
  • August 2021 (10)
  • July 2021 (13)
  • June 2021 (12)
  • May 2021 (12)
  • April 2021 (15)
  • March 2021 (12)
  • February 2021 (11)
  • January 2021 (8)
  • December 2020 (22)
  • November 2020 (16)
  • October 2020 (17)
  • September 2020 (13)
  • August 2020 (17)
  • July 2020 (16)
  • June 2020 (23)
  • May 2020 (24)
  • April 2020 (23)
  • March 2020 (28)
  • February 2020 (20)
  • January 2020 (12)
  • December 2019 (17)
  • November 2019 (15)
  • October 2019 (18)
  • September 2019 (5)
  • August 2019 (9)
  • July 2019 (10)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (5)
  • April 2019 (12)
  • March 2019 (8)
  • February 2019 (7)
  • January 2019 (9)
  • December 2018 (15)
  • November 2018 (6)
  • October 2018 (7)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (7)
  • July 2018 (7)
  • June 2018 (6)
  • May 2018 (10)
  • April 2018 (7)
  • March 2018 (7)
  • February 2018 (5)
  • January 2018 (11)
  • December 2017 (19)
  • November 2017 (13)
  • October 2017 (20)
  • September 2017 (12)
  • August 2017 (11)
  • July 2017 (24)
  • June 2017 (17)
  • May 2017 (24)
  • April 2017 (23)
  • March 2017 (21)
  • February 2017 (22)
  • January 2017 (23)
  • December 2016 (19)
  • November 2016 (21)
  • October 2016 (25)
  • September 2016 (4)
  • August 2016 (15)
  • July 2016 (13)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (8)
  • April 2016 (21)
  • March 2016 (17)
  • February 2016 (30)
  • January 2016 (23)
  • December 2015 (36)
  • November 2015 (23)
  • October 2015 (26)
  • September 2015 (22)
  • August 2015 (15)
  • July 2015 (21)
  • June 2015 (27)
  • May 2015 (17)
  • April 2015 (16)
  • March 2015 (15)
  • February 2015 (12)
  • January 2015 (21)
  • December 2014 (4)

Blog Stats

  • 117,353 hits

Blog at WordPress.com.

travelwithgma

Journeys of all kinds

Cuisine AuntDai

Journey as an owner of a Chinese restaurant in Montreal

A Beijinger living in Provincetown

Life of Yi Zhao, a Beijinger living in Provincetown, USA

theislandheartbeat

LES GLOBE-TROTTERS

VOYAGES, CITY GUIDES, CHATEAUX, PHOTOGRAPHIE.

Antonisch

from ancient to modern and beyond

ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2020-22

ROME - THE IMPERIAL FORA: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH & RELATED STUDIES.

ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2010-20.

ROME – THE IMPERIAL FORA: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH & RELATED STUDIES.

The Body's Heated Speech

Unwritten Histories

The Unwritten Rules of History

Philippe Lagassé

In Defence of Westminster

Moving with Mitchell

Jerry and I get around. In 2011, we moved from the USA to Spain. We now live near Málaga. Jerry y yo nos movemos. En 2011, nos mudamos de EEUU a España. Ahora vivimos cerca de Málaga.

Palliser Pass

Stories, Excerpts, Backroads

Roijoyeux

... Soyons... Joyeux !!!

Fearsome Beard

A place for Beards to contemplate and grow their souls.

Verba Volant Monumenta Manent

Tutto iniziò con Memorie di Adriano, sulle strade dell'Impero Romano tra foto, storia e mito - It all began with Memoirs of Hadrian, on the roads of the Roman Empire among photos, history and myth!

Spo-Reflections

To live is to battle with trolls in the vaults of heart and brain. To write; this is to sit in judgment over one's Self. Henrik Ibsen

KREUZBERGED - BERLIN COMPANION

Everything You Never Knew You Wanted to Know About Berlin

My Secret Journey

The road I have traveled to get to where I am today.

Buying Seafood

Reviews of Fish, Shellfish, and Seafood

Routine Proceedings

The adventures of a Press Gallery journalist

The Historic England Blog

Larry Muffin At Home

Remembering that life is a comedy and the world is a small town.

Sailstrait

Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada's East Coast. Winner of the Heritage Award from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Heritage Preservation Award from the City of Charlottetown

dennisnarratives

Stories in words and pictures

Willy Or Won't He

So Many Years of Experience But Still Making Mistakes!

Prufrock's Dilemma

Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”/Let us go and make our visit.

domanidave.wordpress.com/

Procrastination is the sincerest form of optimism

theINFP

I aim to bring delight to others by sharing my creative endeavours

The Corporate Slave

A mix of corporate and private life experiences

OTTAWA REWIND

Join me as we wind back the time in Ottawa.

  • Follow Following
    • Larry Muffin At Home
    • Join 494 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Larry Muffin At Home
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...