Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia

Below are videos and pictures of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya in Turkish), both located in Sultanahmet. I prefer to go through places like this by myself, so I didn't follow the tour guide very closely...

The Hagia Sophia Museum was first built as a Christian Basilica in the 4th century. After a few fires and riots that destroyed the church, it was rebuilt in the 6th century. It was converted to a mosque in 1453 and eventually into a museum. Visitors can see where the Muslims covered Christian symbols and figures, as they have since been uncovered. Particularly famous are the mosaics that were hidden under plaster for centuries.

These panels of Islamic calligraphy are some of the biggest in the world. They are inscribed with the names of Muhammad, Ali, Allah and other important Muslim figures.

These angels' faces were covered up by geometric designs since Islam forbids depicting faces.

Here is another example of a design covering up a Christian symbol.

To get upstairs, you have to climb up a winding ramp with cobblestones.

Here are some of the famous mosaics that remained covered until very recently.

The view from the windows of the Hagia Sophia were beautiful.

Also on the ramp were tombs of people important to the basilica.

XXOO