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A Meeting of World Cultures: Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque

Few places can rival Istanbul as the cross-roads of multiple cultures and traditions. Geographically, the city literally spans Europe and Asia, with the Bosphorous Bridge and numerous ferries connecting the Asian and European sides. Its architecture, history, craftsmen and artists, churches and museums weave an intricate mosaic of ancient and modern cultures.

Aya Sofya, also known as Hagia Sophia, (on the left), now a museum, was completed by the Emperor Justinian in 532. It reigned as the greatest church in Christendom until the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Its breath-taking dome, covered in glistening gold mosaic tiles, was the world’s largest free-standing dome until the completion of St. Peter’s Basilica in the mid 1500’s. Mehmet the Conqueror converted Aya Sofya into a mosque, covering its intricate mosaics with plaster and adding minarets and a mihrab, to point the way to Mecca. In 1935, Atatürk converted Aya Sofya into a museum.

Next door, on the other side of Sultahnamet Park, is the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque because of its beautiful blue Iznik tiles (on the right of the skyline in the photo). Built nearly 1000 years after Aya Sofya, the mosque was a tribute to the glory and craftsmanship of the Ottoman empire.

After touring Aya Sofya yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI went on to visit the Blue Mosque. Inside, he stood beside Istanbul Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, faced toward Mecca and said a silent prayer. It was only the second time that the head of the Catholic Church had entered a mosque.

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