Rafael - Living live a day at a time

After more than 4 years that I have been trying to go to Istanbul and meet my great friend Deniz, work finally took me there. I spent 2 weeks working and managed to invest at least 3 days without work in order to see the city.
It's hard to start to describe this beautiful country and city that hosted me for those weeks, so I will start with some pictures ofHagia Sophia (Sancta Sophia orAyasofya).

Originally known as the Great Church, the first Hagia Sophia is believed to be found byConstantine the Great and completed by Constantius II in 360 AD. This first, timber-roofed as well as the second church (rebuilt by Theodosius 11) were burnt down.

The Hagia Sophia we know today was conceived by Emperor Justinian, and designed by the mathematician Anthemis of Tralles and the architect Isidorus of Miletus. The work lasted 5 years and the church was completed by 537 AD. The church measures 77 x 72m, and its impressive dome soars 62m above the floor and has a diameter of about 33m (according to my friend the Statue of Liberty could be placed beneath the dome without touching it). Hagia Sophia was the greatest church in Christendom until St Peter's Basilica was built in Rome a thousand years later.

In the year 1453, with the conquest of Istanbul, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror converted the church into a Mosque, but what is remarkable is the fact that they only built on top of the original church, nothing was destroyed and because of that today we can see some original mosaics.

In the pictures on the right you can see theQiblah Wall (which denotes the direction of Mecca), and details of the Mihrab. Below these lines some exterior shots of Hagia Sophia and details of Mosaics and different views. The level of details inside the Hagia Sophia is AMAZING, as my friend said "It looks like if it was made with needles", and you can see it in the picture of the details of the columns.