Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia

The Blue Mosque

This was our first stop in Istanbul. the Blue Mosque. So named for it's many blue ceramic tiles on the interior.

We had to wait in line a bit to get in and we were funneled into a tunnel and expelled one by one. Where we were handed a plastic bag and told to "quickly, quickly" take off our shoes. We could then enter the massive structure. It was breathtaking in terms of its size but unusual in what you find inside. The men were allowed in the center and the women prayed in the back and in the balcony. We were able to stand on the carpet in the spaces allowed for the men to position themselves for prayer but most of the guys were too big to fit in the allotted space. When we left we were hustled out again and kept passings signs on the floor that said, "don't put on your shoes here." eventually we did get our shoes on.

With shoes finally on we then waked over to the Hagia Sophia. Which was built in 532. Yea...532! Hagia Sophia means "Holy Wisdom" in Greek. It was interesting to think this was a first eastern orthodox cathedral, then catholic, back to eastern, then mosque and now a museum. That is some history. All the mosaics have been plastered over and large discs of Islamic prophets have been anchored to the walls.

Hagia Sophia