Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
History and Religion
Into Turkey– Part Three

Into Turkey– Part Three

Last updated on: November 18, 2022 at 1:27 am by Ben Witherington

Into Turkey– Part Three 2022-09-05T14:43:46-04:00 Ben Witherington

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.

This post will focus on two of the most important churches in Istanbul, neither of which are active churches. The one of course is Hagia Sophia, the other St. Irene (i.e. Eirene).

Hagia Sophia was originally built in 360 A.D. by Emperor Constantius, the son of the famous Constantine. Almost nothing remains of this original church (but see below) and so the building you now see was built between 532 and 537 A.D. It did not become a mosque until 1453 when the Osmanlis (Ottomans) had conquered the city and ruled the land of Turkiye. The Christian Emperor Justinian 1 built the church you can now see.

Below is about all that is left of the original church…

Notice the sheep and the palm trees.

In the main entrance way to the church you can still see this mosaic of Justinian on the left offering Mary and Jesus the church, whereas on the right you have Constantine offering them the city (and the Empire presumably).

The now central entranceway lacks religious symbols.

Certainly this building with its lack of columns supporting the vast span of central dome was one of the engineering marvels of its age. Note the gray dome below.

And now from the inside….

Notice the six winged seraphim.

Some of the Christian symbolism has been covered up with Arabic signs, quotes from the Koran presumably, or their creed, there is one God Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.

Despite their best efforts, some of the Christian symbolism are still visible with the help of a zoom lens…

In this image we have Mary, Christ, the archangel Gabriel and the Emperor doing obeisance to Christ.

And see also in the distance in the now closed upper gallery….

On the side of the building, one can see original decorated doors…

Yes there are now regular Muslim services in here, but Christian ones are not allowed. This is a travesty, for long before this was a mosque, this was the first great and central church of Christianity, just as Constantinople for a time was the main holy city of Christendom.

Since the beautiful Chora Church on the edge of the old city is now closed, we visited the historically important St. Irene’s where the council of Constantinople was held, and possibly the Council of Chalcedon.

This church has not been turned into a mosque (yet) and is on the grounds of Topkapi Palace at the summit of that portion of the city. You get to it through the main gate into Topkapi.

The outside looks a bit like Hagia Sophia.

The inside is bare and undecorated, but you can see a council meeting here.

A baptismal font. It was one of the first churches to be built in the new Christian capital city in 330 A.D. and was built on the site of an old pagan temple.

As for a purpose built genuine mosque there is the famous Blue mosque (so called because of the beautiful blue tiles inside it) across from the Hagia Sophia now under major renovation, but there is still a little to see. Here is the outside under repair…

It is famous for its six minarets or prayer towers…

Here’s an inside shot which gives you a sense of the mosque’s color,

And here is a prayer place….

And a pulpit followed by stained glass windows. The Muslim tradition is anti-iconic, by which I mean no images of God or humans in the mosque…

Yes from time to time a sermon would be given by a cleric.

Just across the way, there is a study center for Koran students, and you can also see their creed posted for all to read in English.

History and Religion

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 17, 2022

Into Turkey--Part Two

Next Post

November 19, 2022 Into Turkey-- Part Four

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