Poem: Prayers in Istanbul

1.
On a dusty cobblestone street
I hear three muezzins
In three directions

Call people to prayer
At three mosques,
With a slight delay

Between the calls.
Three chanters in three different rooms
Sing the same song

In phase-shifted rounds
Through nine silver speakers

Mounted on three
Ivory-white minarets
Capped in gleaming cerulean blue.

2.
At the washing stations,
Water splashes from brass spigots
Into pale grey limestone basins.

The faithful wash,
Bag their sandals,
And for the fourth time since dawn,

Walk onto the lush carpet
Of the cool quiet mosque
Tiled in words and symbols.

3.
They kneel, face the wall
And pray one more time.
I don’t know what they pray for,

But when I see their faces
And watch their devotions,
I know it’s something good.

4.
It’s so still and calm
In the mosque,
You could hear a fly expire.
---o0o---

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Click to enlarge the Blue Mosque




Keelin and Claire put their head scarves on for a visit to The Blue Mosque - click to enlarge

The Blue Mosque was built by a Sultan--Ahmet I. His architect began construction in 1609 it was finished by 1616! That's amazing to us because we have seen so many Basilicas and churches in England, Spain, Italy and elsewhere that took literally hundreds of years to build. Or Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia that is still unfinished.



Compared to Aya Sofya, The Blue Mosque is light and spacious and airy. Architecture had come a long way in those years and they learned to support a dome much more efficiently. There are hundreds of gorgeous stained glass windows, in the Blue Mosque, but very few in Aya Sofya.

It sounds like the Sultan and architect wanted to directly "compete" with the Aya Sofya (they are across the street from each other). They wanted to construct a bigger dome, but that was logistically not possible. However, if you read about Aya Sofya, the dome has collapsed numerous times and had to be rebuilt many times over the centuries.




click to enlarge the courtyard


Instead of competing with the mosque across the street, they created an elegant and beautifully proportioned mosque...with six amazing soaring minarets. Prior to that time, no sultan had a mosque with 6 minarets. According to a sign I read, six minarets put it in direct competition with the Mosque at Mecca, and the architect worried he would be punished.

In the courtyard, are many ablution fountains, where you wash your face, arms, neck, feet, mouth and nose before you pray. [Ed's note, there are ablution fountains all around the streets of Istanbul, just for general cleaning I guess]. The marble courtyard is serene and beautiful.

There is a door on the left hand side which is entrance for local people. The rest of us visitors and infidels go around to the other side to enter. You are inspected as you go in, and remove your shoes and put them in a plastic bag. Women are checked for head scarves, and men and women must wrap a scarf around their legs if their knees or shoulders show. Inside, you walk on a plush soft carpet and gaze at the worshippers, praying toward Mecca. The interior is completely covered in gorgeous blue tile, with abstract symbols and calligraphy. Mosques do not allow the depiction of living beings like Catholic churches do. A leader centuries ago decided living creatures distracted you from worship and prayer.

This was an amazing juxtaposition to the Aya Sofya, with its tumultuous and turbulent history, domes falling down, and its transition from Basilica to Mosque to museum. It was a soulful house of worship, and it radiated peace and devotion and surrender to a Higher Being. I was moved.
---o0o---

Αγία Σοφία - A visit to Aya Sofya a/k/a Hagia Sophia

Del, Claire, and Keelin in the vestibule of Aya Sofya--click to enlarge


Click to enlarge - Keelin and Jack in front of some excavated columns,
pediments, and other marbe artifacts from an earlier church on the
same site that was later destroyed

We took the train to Aya Sofya this morning to see the one-time patriarchal basilica that became a mosque later in life, and is now a museum and archaeological exhibit. It is most, and justly famous for its unbelievably massive dome, now considered the height of Byzantine architecture. It was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the home of the Eastern Orthodox Church for almost 1000 years. It was built in the sixth century.

Later the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and plastered over most of the Catholic imagery (like a Fresco of Jesus with Justinian and Constantine) and added typical Moslem features like minarets and a mihrab (an alcove that points toward Mecca and may be there to help prayers to pray in the right direction). So the church has had many lives and religions and is a most interesting polyglot. It was the main mosque of Istanbul/Constantinople for hundreds of years and served as the model for other, later mosques. Like the one across the street--The Blue Mosque, about which more later.




Click to enlarge. Claire and Keelin by the "Stele of St Gregory Thaumaturgus" that is said to have magical powers. You put your thumb in the hole, turn 360 degrees, and if a drop of water falls on your thumb--well, you're in luck, Friendo.


Click to enlarge - The mihrab--an alcove that points toward Mecca that may be there to help prayers pray in the right direction [ed's note: totally Jack's speculation]

The partly destroyed, but still stunning mosaic fresco of Jesus with Constantine and Justinian at his sides. It was uncovered after being plastered over for centuries. This was amazing.

Click to enlarge -- Aya Sofya from the steps of the Blue Mosque (about which more later). I'm going to bed.
---o0o---