Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City by John Freely, Hilary Sumner-Boyd Read Free Book Online Page B

we see a short stretch of crenellated wall, almost hidden behind an auto-repair shop; this is all that remains of the apse of the once-famous church of St. Mary Chalcoprateia. This church, which is thought to date from the middle of the fifth century, was one of the most venerated in the city, since it possessed as a relic the girdle of the Blessed Virgin. After the Nika Revolt in the year 532, when the church of Haghia Sophia was destroyed, St. Mary’s served for a time as the patriarchal cathedral. It was built on the ruins of an ancient synagogue which since the time of Constantine had been the property of the Jewish copperworkers, hence the name Chalcoprateia, or the Copper Market.
    The handsome though forbidding building that occupies most of the opposite side of the avenue here is the So ğ uk Kuyu Medresesi. This theological school was founded in the year 1559 by Cafer A ğ a, Chief White Eunuch in the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, and was built by the great Sinan. The hillside slopes quite sharply here, so Sinan first erected a vaulted substructure to support the medrese and its courtyard. The entrance to the medrese is approached from the street running parallel to the west end of Haghia Sophia, where an alleyway leads down to the inner courtyard of the building. The student cells of the medrese are arrayed around the courtyard, with the dershane, or lecture hall, in the large domed chamber to the left as you enter. The medrese now serves as a bazaar of old Ottoman arts and crafts, as well as a restaurant serving traditional Turkish food in a picturesque setting.
    Alemdar Caddesi now brings us out into the large square which occupies the summit of the First Hill. On our left we see the great edifice of Haghia Sophia, flanked by a wide esplanade shaded with chestnut and plane-trees. Straight ahead is Sultan Ahmet I Camii, the famous Blue Mosque, its cascade of domes framed by six slender minarets. In front of the Blue Mosque is the At Meydan ı , the site of the ancient Hippodrome, three of whose surviving monuments stand in line in the centre of a park. This is the centre of the ancient city, and the starting-point for our next five strolls through Stamboul.

     

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Haghia Sophia
     
    “The church presents a most glorious spectacle, extraordinary to those who behold it and altogether incredible to those who are told of it. In height it rises to the very heavens and overtops the neighbouring houses like a ship anchored among them, appearing above the city which it adorns and forms a part of … It is distinguished by indescribable beauty, excelling both in size and the harmonies of its measures.” So wrote the chronicler Procopius more than 14 centuries ago, describing Haghia Sophia as it appeared during the reign of its founder Justinian I. Haghia Sophia, the Church of the Divine Wisdom, was dedicated by Justinian on 26 December 537. For more than nine centuries thereafter Haghia Sophia served as the cathedral of Constantinople and was the centre of the religious life of the Byzantine Empire. For 470 years after the Turkish Conquest it was one of the imperial mosques of Istanbul, known as Aya Sofya Camii. It continued to serve as a mosque during the early years of the Turkish Republic, until it was finally converted into a museum in 1935. Now, emptied of the congregations which once worshipped there, Christians and Muslims in turn, it may seem just a cold and barren shell, devoid of life and spirit. But for those who are aware of its long and illustrious history and are familiar with its architectural principles, Haghia Sophia remains one of the truly great buildings in the world. And it still adorns the skyline of the city as it did when Procopius wrote of it 14 centuries ago.
    The present edifice of Haghia Sophia is the third of that name to stand upon this site. The first church of Haghia Sophia was dedicated on 15 February in the year A.D. 360, during the reign of Constantius, son and successor of