Back when I was taking an art history class at Texas A&M University at Commerce, I became enamored with the Haghia Sophia in Istanbul. The photos of it showed a magnificent building, which was completed in 537 AD by the Holy Roman Emperor Justinian as a Greek Orthodox Cathedral. It was built over two previous buildings, also churches.
Haghia Sophia, meaning “Divine Wisdom” continued as a church for close to a thousand years until converted into a mosque by the Ottomans in 1453. It then remained as a mosque for nearly 500 years until the 1930s when it was turned into a museum. At that point, the paint and/or plaster that had been placed over many of its mosaics was removed. It is considered to be one of the greatest examples of Byzantine architecture in the world. It was also the largest cathedral on earth for roughly the first thousand years of its existence.
I was really excited to see it. I was still feeling mighty sick and it was a cold, rainy day. I drank a couple glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice (by the way, Turkey has the most flavorful oranges I have ever tasted) with my breakfast, downed loads of cold meds, bundled up and headed out with my feet barely touching the ground. The Haghia Sophia was one of what you could call my “bucket list” locations. Josh Gates, host of “Expedition Unknown”, “Legendary Locations”, and “Destination Truth”, has declared it to be one of his favorite destinations as well.
It was starting to rain as we arrived, so we didn’t spend a lot of time outside, entering the building almost immediately. We gathered in the Narthex to listen to our tour director tell us about the history of the building. I already knew the history and was itching to get into the main part of the building. It was difficult for me to be patient, but I politely waited until he was done talking and escorted us towards the entrance to the nave.
The main entrance to the basilica is the Imperial Gate, which has a mosaic over the door depicting Christ on a throne with the Emperor bowing next to Him. This is one of the more famous mosaics within the Haghia Sophia.
Once inside of the nave, my jaw dropped in awe. Wow! So beautiful! The size is amazing. A mosaic of Mary and the baby Jesus can be seen straight ahead from the entrance in the apse near one of the two half-domed ceilings that flank the central dome. There are also mosaics of the Archangels Michael (fragmentary on the left) and Gabriel (a good share of him on the right) flanking the apse.
A coronation square for the crowning of Emperors is found in the floor just to the right and close to where the altar would have been. The altar was replaced by a Mihrab, which indicates the direction of Mecca. Not far from that is a Minbar, which is a raised, covered platform from which the sermon is delivered. It is reached by a steep stairway.
A special loge for the Ottoman Sultans is found perched on columns slightly to the left of the apse. A tall, throne-like chair called a Kűrsű, on which the Imam sits, is located over on the left side of the nave. I took photos and video of everything.
As soon as we were released for free time to explore on our own, I dashed off to the Vestibule of Warriors, where I could see the famous mosaic of Mary and the baby Jesus flanked by Justinian and Constantine over the door leading to the nave. There was a photo of that mosaic in my art history textbook. Constantine offers a representation of Constantinople while Justinian offers a model of the Haghia Sophia.
I felt that the ceiling of the vestibule showed the age of the building. It looked much older than so much of it that has been repaired (from earthquake damage) and renovated over the centuries. Perhaps it has been pretty much left alone.
The Haghia Sophia doesn’t have stairs. Instead it has ramps leading to its various levels. I headed up the main ramp to the gallery. I was so excited that I forgot to take a photo of the ramp, so I got one of the ramp that I used to come back down later. On the way to the ramp, I passed the Wishing Column. The line to touch it was longer than I cared to join. I had things that I wanted to make certain not to miss.
Up in the gallery, after taking some photos of the nave down below, I walked around to the other side of the building to the marble Gate of Heaven and Hell. Just inside of the gate was the famous Deësis mosaic, which has the adult Jesus flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist interceding for humanity on Judgement Day. The bottom portion of the mosaic has deteriorated, but the upper part is still amazing.
I continued along the gallery. The middle part was called the Loggia of the Empress, where the Holy Roman Empress and her court could watch what was taking place in the nave below.
From close to the end of the gallery, I took photos of the tall chair and the overall nave below on my way to two more mosaics that were nicely intact. One was of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus flanked by Emperor John II Commenus and Empress Irene. The other was of Christ with Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus and Empress Zoe.
That was as far as I could go, so I returned to the opposite side of the gallery, continued along to the farthest I could go there too and then descended down the ramp located in the far corner down to the main floor. A gift shop was located at the bottom of the ramp. I bought a book on the basilica before having to head out to meet the others and our tour director. By this time, it was absolutely pouring rain. So I hid under the roof of a fountain until we could head off to Topkapi Palace.
Haghia Sophia 
Narthex 
Mosaic above Imperial Gate 
View into nave from Imperial Gate 
Mosaic of Mary and Baby Jesus in apse of nave 
Mosaic of the archangel Gabriel 
Coronation Square 
Mihrab 
Minbar 
Sultan’s Loge 
Ceiling of Vestibule of Warriors 
Mosaic above entrance to Vestibule of Warriors 
View of nave from gallery above 
Marble Gate of Heaven & Hell 
Deesis Mosaic 
The gallery with Loggia of the Empress 
Kursu (tall chair of Imam) 
View of nave from gallery above at the other end 
The ramp coming down from the gallery 
Ceiling of fountain where I sought shelter from rain