Today we ventured to Aya Sofia, one of the seven man made wonders of the world. Fascinating history according to the guide....build in five years by the Emperor Justinian, finished in 537 AD. It was the third church built, the first wooden church burned because of protests due to high taxes and the second stone building destroyed (I think) again due to high taxes. Justinian was ticked cause supposedly he was leaving the city, and his wife Theodora said show them a lesson so he decimated the city by murdering 40,000 people in the city over nine hours in the Hippodrome. Ok, this is what I remember from the guide but it was fascinating. So, he built the church with the largest free standing dome at the time, and to build it so quickly he used pieces from other temples such as columns from a temple in Ephesus. It was a Christian church until about the 1500s and then was turned into a mosque so the Muslims covered up the Christian symbols.. . . And turned into a museum in the 1920s. Interesting to see Christian and Muslim symbols side by each. Ok, I could go on, but after a trip to the bank machine to get Euros, which didnt happen cause our magnetic strip wouldnt work, we went for lunch, and then schlepped back to the hotel for a rest. This aft we ventured to Topkapi Palace which is beside the Aya Sofia and heard the history by way of a headset. Beautiful views and amazing history. The view pic is from one of the terraces of the sultan overlooking the Marmoset Sea and the Bosphorus Strait. The second pic of us in front of the blue tiles was the Circumcision Room of the Palace. No other commentary needed. This evening we ate with Karen, Steve and their crew at a local restaurant. Stephen and I shared a clay pot, where they slow cook a meal and the crack open the pot at your table. The chicken dish was amazingly tasty. We stumbled across a towel and linen shop recommended by my friend Jill, and we bought a few tea towels that are made using an old hand crafted technique. The shop is owned by a Canadian. Thanks Jill for the recommendation. We looked at the night lights around Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque followed by an ice cream and baklava . . . Can you say egg me tomb gym when we return! Well thats the day here and it is 10 hours earlier in BC? Hope you have a great one! Jack
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 19:45:22 +0000
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