This is a siesta time update thanks to the inconsiderate
Turks who kept us up all night with their loud TV. Yes I’m a grumpy bear today from lack of
sleep due to paper thin walls and poor sound-proofing. Grrr!
Staying fairly close to the hotel today in case we need a
nap later on. We’re checking out the
Sultanahmet district in more detail by visiting some of Istanbul’s key
landmarks.
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| Blue Mosque |
The Blue Mosque whilst being an important place of worship
is sensitive to a tourist’s need to photograph every nook and cranny and allows
large parties to enter and be snap happy.
After a few minutes, we put aside our reservations about photography
being disrespectful and went all out with the herd, papping everything in sight
thus reinforcing any Muslim beliefs that all Westerners are just ignorant
infidels.
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| Praying area inside the mosque - no tourists allowed |
It would be difficult to stop yourself reaching for a camera
inside the Mosque but it is hard to capture the beauty and majesty all around
you. The colours, the ceramics, the
infinite detail that stretches way beyond into the many cupolas, it’s an all-out
assault on the senses. My small digital
box of tricks fails to do this great place the homage it deserves but I hope
that these few snaps will give you a taster of the inside of the Blue Mosque.
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| Inside the domes |
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| Beauty and light surrounds you |
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| Wonders are everywhere to behold |
In comparison, the interior of its neighbour the Haghia
Sophia is a different kettle of fish.
The intricate ceramic designs are replaced by sombre, heavy block
coloured floral motifs perhaps more in keeping with a traditional Christian
culture.
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| Haghia Sophia |
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| Interior under restoration |
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| One of few remaining wall mosaics |
The general atmosphere overall
came across as austere, cold like its marble floors and thin faced saints. I felt it lacked the luminosity and etherealness
of the Blue Mosque but it was not without its own sense of dilapidated beauty.
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| The upper gallery |
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| Columns and chandeliers |
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| Intricate archway designs |
Being all ‘churched’ out, we plunged into the cool, dark depths
of the nearby Basilica Cistern for our final visit. The cistern is an intriguing structure built
by one of the city’s Byzantine emperors.
It’s a vast underground chamber that was used to collect water for the
city.
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| The Basilica Cistern |
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| Only a few of the 336 columns down here |
It’s pretty spooky down here with
its 336 columns, vaulted ceilings and atmospheric lighting. I’d hate to be trapped down here during a
power cut.
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