Uzbekistan Airlines has a flight from Urghench (near Khiva) direct to Istanbul twice a week, avoiding the need to fly east to Tashkent, the west again toward Europe. The airport had a grand total of three flights operating this morning (all narrow body aircraft), yet was still total pandemonium (1). Due to the chaos, our flight was late. Once in Istanbul, I could have connected quickly to Europe, but I had not visited Hagia Sofia in a number of years, so I opted for a long layover.
The Hagia Sofia (in Greek)/ayasofia (in Turkish) was constructed in the 530s C.E., and featured the largest dome in the western world for over 1,000 years. The building functioned as a church until April 1453, when the Ottomans conquered the city, immediately converting it to a mosque. When the Ottoman empire fell after World War I, the secularing Mustafa Kemal (founder of Modern Turkey) repurposed it as a museum.
I had seen the ayasofia a few years ago, and had watched some programs about uncovering and refreshing the religious mosaics in the building. Reconverted to a mosque by the current Islamist Erdogan government in 2022, I was curious how the mosaics were faring; depictions of people in mosques is generally not permitted.
The new Istanbul airport is a long way ftom the city center. In a bit of whimsy apparently designed to confuse visitors, the airport metro has no metro map (2), so when they announce connections at a station to Metro line 7 or 2 there is absolutely no way to know whether such a connection would be of interest (3). At the last stop, I figured I would go above ground to get my bearings. In another distinctive design choice, the exit from the airport metro is literally in the middle of a highway interchange. Back below ground, I wandered about until I found another metro station. Still no map, but I sensed the general direction I needed to go. Once on the train, there was a map, but I had left my microscope at home. Emerging on a bridge over the Golden Horn, I hopped off and walked in the direction of Sultenhamet, the historic center of the city.
The former main entrance to the ayasofia is now reserved for Turkish citizens who wish to pray. After buying a ticket, I joined the orderly queue to access the building from the back (4). The visiting area is now limited to the balcony. The golden Chistian mosaics over the altar are now covered with simple cloth draping. Other mosaics on the balcony, not visible from the apse or nave, have been left visible. The marble floor is now covered with a green rug, which the wandering cats seem to appreciate (5). While still impressive from the balcony, I was glad I had visited the building a few years ago when one could stand on the floor at gawk at the sheer scale and beauty of the building.
Down the hill to a ferry dock on the Golden Horn for a quick trip across the Bosporus to Asia and back. While low clouds hung over the city, the many mosques minarets and the ayasofia would have impressed those arriving by sea.
Back to the airport for rhe last flight to Zurich.
(1) I had already checked in, had no bags, and had my boarding pass on my phone. Unacceptable to the immigration officials, who insisted I must go back downstairs, join the scrum to get a hard copy boarding pass that they could stamp. A class trip of what appeared to be 6th graders was journeying to Istanbul. In addition to the chaperones, it seems all their parent showed up to see them off, overcrowding the small check-in area (a). Hood thing I have elbows to push my way through (b).
(a) One group was travelling with their English teacher, practicing the language while scrumming at the check-in counter. One youth said "People around here probably don't know what we're saying." The teacher looked at me, and I replied "I do."
(b) Nobody seemed fazed or bothered by the process. I have experienced this elsewhere in the former Soviet Union where people have cultural memories of dealing with recalcitrant officials (both Soviet, and before that, Tsarist).
(2) I've traveled on metros all over the world, and this is a first.
(3) The airport metro line is deep underground, with no cell coverage to look things up.
(4) The queue was unusually long, the visitor area reopening only 15 minutes earlier after the end of Friday prayer. I knew the building was huge and could easily accommodate all those in line, which moved reasonably well, passing through security at the entrance.
(5) The New York Times had a story a few years ago about the large number of cats in Istanbul entitled: "Maybe they should call it Catstaninople."
First light at Khiva
My first trip on Uzbekistan airlines
The ayasofia
Covering the mosaics of Jesus and Mary, etc. over the altar/mihrab
Carpet installed after reconversion to a mosque
The mihrab, pointing toward Mecca is only slightly off center for the original Christian altar
Mosaic of the Madonna and Child
Former imperial entrance during Byzantine era (now a deadend). Constantine present the city (right), while Justinian present the Hagia Sofia to Jesus and Mary
The traffic police in Istanbul have a Bentley
Views to Sultahamet and the ayasofia from a ferry across the Bosphorus
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