After admiring the skeletal remains of the Hippodrome we entered the Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I, otherwise known as the Blue Mosque. It is a working mosque, so it is closed to non-worshipers during the five prayer times a day, and an extended time during their holy day of Friday. It is open to non-worshipers, such as us, but we had to enter through the southern entrance, traverse through the courtyard, and enter the actual body of the mosque through a side door.
Southern Entrance of Blue Mosque
The beauty about all mosques is the ability to use language as a form of art. Because images are forbidden, the written language is used to create phenomenal interweaving designs of passages of the Qur’an that riddle the interiors. Complex geometrical shapes and contorted floral patterns are also used to emphasize the beauty of “The Faith”.
Interior of Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque was constructed almost exactly one hundred and fifty years after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453CE. It took fourteen years to construct, which puts the mosque, in its entirety, dating to 1617. Aside from its function and looks, there is plenty about this place that is Byzantine. For starters, it is built on top of the location of the Great Palace of Byzantium. Physically, it is composed of material from the Hippodrome and the Great Palace. As far as the cascading domes and vaults that typify the basic architectural design of every mosque around the world? All one has to do is look right across the way at the Hagia Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom. That is where the influence comes from. At the monastic site on Djanavara hill in Bulgaria, the leaders of the dig often discussed the usual designs of the early churches, one of which is the presence of a courtyard, always found in the front of the church. This is also something that the mosque design acquired and can still be seen everywhere. I should also note that the blue of the mosque is something unique to Turkey. Though not an original color, specifically to Turkey, the blue-ish hue was prevalent throughout the markets across the country. The French took note of this and dubbed it as ‘turquoise’. Of course, the stone and color were known by many other names beforehand, but the Turkish-influenced name has dominated in the modern era.
Istanbul is filled with stray cats. There are probably two stray dogs and fifty thousand stray cats. That’s my guess. There is one particular type of cat that I noticed all over the city. From the Phanariot district by the Theodosian Walls to the Topkapi Palace on the old acropolis, the cats are everywhere and they look like little black and white cows. Penguinic Cats: always dressed for the occasion. Come to think of it, I could just be seeing the same three cats everywhere I go. Honestly, there is no way I can tell one from the other.
Penguinic Cat of Blue Mosque
The Hagia Sophia is closed on Monday’s. After we exited the Blue Mosque, all we could do was look at it in awe. It truly is a mammoth of a structure. It is really hard to even describe how immense it is, then comprehend that it was built in the sixth century. Justinian the Great had really built a wonder of the world, the last great emblem of Roman architecture.
Onto the Augustaion, which is completely paved/built over and only really has the Milion left of it. There once was a statue of Justinian, holding an orb, and facing toward the east (Persia), where all the eminent threats of the empire were coming from. Unknowingly passing through it, we went down a side street next to the Hagia Sofia and passed the Basilica Cisterns, which I was going to come back and visit later with my traveling partner-extraordinaire (always hungry for the Byzantine in Constantinople), Denise Kulp.
We drove in our bus across the Golden Horn, this time on the bridge that leads directly into Galata. We passed the Galata Tower on the left and eventually Dolmabahçe Palace, the last architectural hurrah of the Ottoman’s, on the right. We crossed the first bridge over the Bosphorus into what was once Nicaea. The terrain is extremely mountainous. The bus pulled up on a promontory that allowed us to view a gigantic panoramic view of the beginning of the European continent. We could see, literally, from the tip of Constantinople all the up the Bosphorus, past the second bridge connecting the continents, to the mouth of the Black Sea. By this time our energy acquired from breakfast was starting to wear off. Luckily, we were allowed enough time as this spot to order a coffee, or Coke, if needed at the adjacent café. The caffeine would have to last us to the next spot, at least. We could only hope that there was not much more of this ridiculous mandatory tour. While we were waiting for our liquid fuel, the balcony we were on was quivering in perfect intervals of a few seconds at a time. All I could think about was the prominence of earthquakes throughout the annals of Byzantine history. The Hagia Sophia, if it could speak, would be able to talk about the over one thousand plus earthquakes it has felt. Some of which were so intense that the dome collapsed. I just tucked those thoughts in the back of my mind. Looking at the steep hills and mountains did not help, though. One has to realize that they look that jagged and sinister for a reason.
Bosphorus looking down towards the Black Sea
A half an hour later we were back across the Bosphorus and driving along the outside of the Theodosian Walls, headed southbound. There is a road that runs parallel to the wall, which was perfect because I wanted to see them as much as possible. Most of the gates were still relatively intact. The most impressive one was the Golden Gate, which was the most important one of them all. If there was a victory parade from a victorious emperor just returning from abroad, the parade more than likely started there, entering through the Golden Gate, and proceeding down the Mese (Middle Thoroughfare) and ending at the entrance of the Hippodrome. My camera battery died by this point, but here’s a good link to see what they look like.
It is interesting to note that the land in which the walls are situated is not fallow or abandoned. Locals have used every possible part of the walls by growing gardens in the available soil, building shops within cavities that are large enough, and continuing to use gates that are still stable. The walls serve no defensive function anymore, obviously, but they do stand as a memorial to the feat of Roman engineering that held entire empires, and every kind of military technology, at bay until the invention of the cannon in the early 15th century finally cracked it in May of 1453. The Avars, Slavs, Arabs, Russians, Bulgars, even the Goths ( just to name a few) could not penetrate the symbolic shield of the Empire.
The last stop on the tour was a total setup. We were brought to a leather company just outside the Golden Gate, clearly so we could shop. They brought us through the basement, which housed what looked suspiciously like a sweatshop, so, I guess, we could see how the products were made? As if we were now going to be motivated to buy their merchandise? Then they took us up through a back staircase, up four flights, and onto the showroom floor. The leather was pretty nice, but the cheapest item was about as much as a months rent in an accommodating San Francisco apartment. Worst of all, the salesmen were everywhere, like sharks in a tuna factory, asking you, “ How can I help you spend your money?” They probably did not mean to sound that rude. But I could not tell. Perhaps they actually were that cocky.
The best thing about that showroom was the refreshments table. It consisted of the usual tea, coffee, water, and cans of beer. If I was not inclined to purchase anything sober, perhaps if they offered me beer I would consider it? Wow, what a store.
Thankfully, by noon we were back at our home base in Taksim.
The Istanbul summation was complete.
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