When we originally booked our flight, I selected a 7:00 p.m. return to give us two full days in Istanbul. But the airline canceled that late flight and automatically put us on an 8:00 a.m. return. That gave us only a day in Istanbul. I wasn’t happy! I called them and we were able to get it switched to a 3:00 in the afternoon, which at least gave us a little more time. But our day was still cut a little shorter than we intended.

Our first stop was to return to Hagia Sophia for a tour. I can’t say enough about how awesome this place is. It was built in the year 532 as a Christian church, and then about 1,000 years later it was converted into a mosque. About 500 years after that, it was converted into a museum which is how it is today.

Did that sink in sufficiently? This building is over 1500 years old. It’s mind-boggling!

When the church was converted to a mosque, the Islamics did their darnedest to cover up anything “Christian” inside. But now they’ve been able to recover a lot of things, and the work is amazing. The mosaics on the upper level of the church are some of the most beautiful works I’ve ever seen. It’s impossible to describe how each tiny piece glints and glimmers like gold, so keep that in mind when viewing these pictures.

The level of detail was just awesome, all the way down to the folds in the robes.

Although there was a good deal of construction going on (see above re: 1500(!) years old), it still was a magnificent place.

And it was unique seeing both the Islamic writing and the Christian symbols in the same place.

There was a story about a farmer who was working in his fields and he he found three large marble urns, all carved from a single block of marble. When he tried to move them, they were impossibly heavy. They were all filled with gold coins. He covered them and hurried to the Sultan to reveal his discovery. The Sultan said, basically, “Thanks buddy, and as a reward, you may keep one of the urns.” The farmer refused, saying he would only keep it if it was empty of gold, because he believed that was the intention of God’s gift.

There is also a portion of the church called the Weeping Pillar, said to have cured Constantin’s headache when he leaned against the pillar once. There, people now line up to try to stick their thumb in a hole and rotate in a complete circle. Supposedly your wish will come true if you’re able to complete the circle. I was so busy concentrating on completing the circle that I forgot to wish!

I had planned on wishing for my feet to stop aching (a byproduct of all the walking), but after I’d made a circle and practically dislocated my arm, I no longer had pain in my feet… just my shoulder So maybe it works!

Our final stop was another guidebook recommendation, a mosque that promised a superb view of the city. We meandered our way in that direction, and then when we arrived, circled the outside of the mosque trying to find the entrance. Unfortunately, we found out after walking around for miles, the mosque was under renovations and temporarily closed to the public. All that walking for nothing! We weren’t even able to get access to the courtyard for the promised view. This was as close as we got.

We returned to the area of our hotel and ate a light (and not so great, but it sure was expensive!) lunch before taking a car back to the airport. We had a wonderful time in Istanbul, and it’s high on my favorite cities.

Here are my pictures as well as Travis’s.