Hagia Sophia in Trabzon

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 11:14 pm by Guest Contributor

Hagia Sophia in Trabzon 2015-03-13T23:14:01-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

On a cliff overlooking the vast Black Sea stands Hagia Sophia Church. No not the more famous one in Istanbul, but rather its baby sister, so to speak. One of the last things Mark Fairchild and I did before going to the Ephesus meeting and lecturing was visit this church. You never know what to expect, but as it turns out, this church is spectacular. Like all such churches in Turkey which are in good shape, it is a museum today. Part of the history many will not know is that while these churches began life as Greek Orthodox churches, during WWII when there was a Russian presence in Turkey they became Russian Orthodox Churches, and then with the rise of Ataturk they ceased to be functioning churches at all. One reason was the act of repatriation of many Greeks back to Greece in the 1920s, a sad and shameful tale in Turkish history frankly. The church is built largely on a Romanesque plan with a central tower and its frescoes and mosaics are wonderful. The first picture below is of the back of the church which is actually the front of the church with the baptismal font in the foreground. The next picture is of the view of the Black sea from the back of the garden which overlooks the sea. Following that is a view of the side door into the chapel in the apse seen through a hole in an ancient olive tree.

The mosaic floor under the central dome is interesting.

The main reason of course to take pictures in this church is all the wall paintings or frescoes of various Biblical scenes and of saints.

What normally has happened in these Christian buildings is that at some point after they were abandoned they have been defaced due to the anti-iconic nature of Islamic faith— no graven images of God for sure, or saints for that matter. One of the most remarkable exceptions to this rule is in the Mohammed Ali mosque in Cairo (the source of the name of the American boxer by the way) which until recently had a picture of President Mubarak in it. This Hagia Sophia has suffered very little damage from defacing, which seems to have happened less in the 20th century than in earlier centuries when Muslims took over Christian sites. The third picture here is an interesting rendering of the six winged seraphs from Isaiah 6 combined with the throne chariot vision as John saw it in Revelation 4.

There are a variety of archaeological works lying about in the courtyard of this church and we will have occasion to talk about the most important one in a post about Satala later, but for now I leave you with a typical orthodox shrine. Shrines are set up in Greece and elsewhere to remember the spot where some believer met an untimely end, and so you will see them on the side of the road in Greece where there are hairpin turns etc. The shrine itself usually contains a candle and perhaps a picture of the deceased and some oil if there is an oil lamp in it. Here are a couple of such shrines. They tend to look like over-sized bird houses. In our next post we will talk about what some have called the third most famous Greek orthodox monastery in the world— the Sumela monastery nestled safely today in a national park about an hour south of Trabzon.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 11, 2011

Underground Christian Cities---- Aydin Tepe

Next Post

June 13, 2011 Satala

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz