Istanbul

One of the great historical cities of the world, Istanbul is the largest and most important city in Turkey. Istanbul is a (relatively) new name for a very old city: Constantinople and even earlier than that, Byzantium. Prior to invasion of the Ottomans in 1453,  Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the city flourished for a thousand years, literally. More recently after that date, the city has been called the “stronghold of Islam”, and for the past 500 years under the Ottomans and Turks, the city has flourished yet again.

Why is this ancient Christian Mosaic hidden under the walls of Hagia Sophia, one of the city’s oldest mosques?

You can see history play out in architecture. Hagia Sophia did not begin as a mosque; it was in fact constructed as a massive orthodox Christian church in 537AD, when the city was still called Constantinople. After 1453, and nearly ever since, it has been a mosque. Only after secularization of the country was it possible to pull off layers of paint and plaster to reveal these ancient artworks.

Istanbul is a modern metropolis at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle East. It’s a city of hundreds of mosques populating the ancient city’s canopy, with a new and modern skyline rising across the Bosporus, indicative of the city’s success as a modern business economy.

Enjoy the gallery by clicking here.