Golden Horn

A visit to the most ancient section of Istanbul was the plan for Sunday. The peninsula, named The Golden Horn due to its strategic position, was a journey that included a subway, fanicula, and tram.

This area was built by the Romans with Constatine at the helm. Sections of the peninsula are still walled and date back to the 4th century. The prize gem of this area is the Ayasophya. 

(See any Influence for Disneyland?)

This structure has a huge weight of history behind it. It was built in the 300's, was built as a huge domed Christian church, and it was, for over a 1000 years, the largest indoor space on the planet. 

When Constantinople fell, the church was overtaken by the Muslim faith, and now the Ayasophya is the template for about every mosque built afterwards...hence, "domes on mosques."  During that period, the Christian images and mosaics were painted or plastered over and Muslim iconography was installed. 

Ayasophya now is a museum that has lifted away some of the plaster and paint to reveal the original Christian mosaics.

 The detail, enormity, and history of the Ayasophya is humbling. 

This whole section of Istanbul is a treasure of history. In a grand line sits the Sultans Castle...

the Ayasophya, and the Blue Mosque- an historic structure in itself and is still a working mosque. 

This area of the city also houses the former outdoor arena and gathering place Constantine's Circus Maximus. 

We also took a quick Dan Brown detour to see the Basillica Cistern that was built in 532. We looked for a gelatinous bag filled with the modern plague, but couldn't find one...so, I think we are safe. 

Inside, there were a combination of pillars (Ionic, Doric, and Corinthin) beacause since it was an underground site, they just grabbed any ole pillar laying around to construct it. In two places, the base stones are the Heads of Medusa. 

We then took in The Spice Market (the Grand Bazaar was closed on Sunday). It was truly the Middle-Eastern equivalent of the market in Charleston, SC.  

Afterwards, we lavished ourselves- first with a pint in a British pub (Ray needed Guinness), then with an authentic Turkish dinner at a restaurant with a spectacular view. 

Then we went back to the flat to try to get Ray caught up on Breaking Bad and to get the NFL ticket to work consistently. 

Of course, with a 10:30am flight, knowing it took 2 hours to get 25 miles on the way in on Friday night, having a filmstrip of Argo-like issues at the airport, and nightmares of the taxi (Taksi in Turkish) taking me to the wrong airport...I slept a fitful 4 hours, woke a good 80 minutes before the 5:58am morning Call to Prayer and ended up getting to the airport 3 hours and 15 minutes before my flight. At least I didn't miss it!

On to Paris...