We also visited three other famous landmarks in Istanbul.  They had been built more than 1500 years ago, converted to mosques 600 years ago, then two were converted into museums, while the third remains as an active mosque.  The image above is the central dome from the church of St. Saviour in Chora.

Chora is the most completely restored historic church we have seen, and is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Byzantine art, with more than 100 mosaics and frescoes.  Originally built in the 4th century AD (1700 hundred years ago!), the city was conquered in 1453, and turned into a mosque 50 years after that.  Fortunately, the Muslims did not destroy the original artwork, but only placed a layer of plaster over it.  Restoration work began in 1948, removing the plaster and exposing the gold mosaic tiles of the original art.  The lower right image above shows one of the mosaics still partially covered in plaster.

Eyüp Sultan Mosque was initally built as a monastery in the 5th century AD, and the village is now a place of pilgramage for muslims from all around the world.  Eyüp was conquered by the Crusaders in 1204, sustaining very little damage.  It remained a monastery until 1581, when the Ottoman Empire prohibited Christians from living in the area, and converted it into a mosque.  It is still an active mosque, and chosen as a burial site by the elite with their mausoleums lining the  streets surrounding the mosque.  The courtyard was also great for people watching.  The boy in the lower left image had just taken part in a circumcision ceremony.

Hagia Sophia is another historic Christian church, built in the 6th century AD (note the progression here, of roughly 100 years between each of these three being built).  It had the largest dome in the world for 1000 years, until the 16th century, having been converted to a mosque a century earlier.  The building is now a museum, and under active restoration (middle left shows scaffolds).

Of course, anywhere photography is allowed these days, selfies are sure to follow (upper left and upper center)…  This is still considered a highly religious site by both Muslims (upper right) and Christians.  Outside the church walls, the tombs of numerous sultans are free to enter and view (bottom row), and were built with intricate tile work as you might find in jewel boxes.

We have spent the last couple days seeing various mosques and museums.  Both are ubiquitous in Instanbul, with 2,944 active mosques, and (it sometimes seems) almost as many museums.

Most mosques are topped by a dome that looks ordinary from the outside, but is elaborately ornate on the inside.  Many are painted, others have frescoes, and the most elaborate have tile patterns.

Many of the mosques and churches also include elaborate stained glass windows, and often exotic tiles and scripts on their walls.

One of the most famous palace museums is the Topkapi Palace. The palace housed a sultan with over 4000 of his people, so the grounds were immense.  Unfortunately, many interesting displays of ancient artifacts were behind very poorly lit glass, where a person had to press his nose to the glass to see anything.  Since it was crowded, that meant you saw nothing unless you were willing to go at a snail’s pace with the other tourists to view some of the jewelry.  No thanks… ☹

To add insult, there was no photography allowed.  Why?  It was allowed up until 5 years ago, when the director of the museum released his own book with photographs of the artifacts.  He then banned photography.  You can make your own conclusion on that timing…

People watching is always fun around the public areas of any of these mosques and museums.  Most people are friendly, and willing to smile for the camera.

Our last stop for the day was the Archaeological Museum, which was one of the best we have seen throughout out travels.  We have visited museums though out the world, but have never seen such a large display of nearly intact ancient statues, as shown above.

The collection of sarcophagi was particularly impressive.  We have never seen more than one or two reasonably intact sarcophagus at a time, yet here were many dozens of them,  each more elaborate than the last, and all in excellent condition.

Some of the details of the sarcophagi can be seen here.  Definitely a “must see” for anyone visiting Istanbul!