Great Journey 🏍 Day 290
The mosques of Istanbul. We visited some of them, photographed several. A few were closed, the Blue Mosque was being renovated and was covered with scaffolding.
The Hagia Sofia (Ayasofya) was not used as a mosque again until 2020, Previously for many years "only" as a museum. We could now report on the 33-metre span dome as the largest brick dome ever built. Or that it is one of the most famous, best and whatnot.
It is beautiful, without question. We visit it just during the time of prayer. We take off our shoes and put them in one of the many shoe lockers. Sneaking into the large hall on quiet soles.
Instead of a scarf or veil, my cardigan hood is actually enough for the law enforcer (and I would have loved to buy a nice scarf at the Grand Bazaar!). It is only here that I actually realise that we women also have to stay behind a barrier.
The male worshippers go to the front part of the hall and can pray undisturbed; in the back part, all Muslim women and also all visitors and female visitors are allowed to stay. We observe, we do not judge. We know far too little about the faith for that. In fact, not at all.
We sit down on the soft carpet, listen to the prayers, the singing. We enjoy the minutes. Watching the men stand up, bend over, kneel down, stand up again. We let our eyes wander, admire the dome, the fascinating interlocking geometries. I marvel at the golden Arabic calligraphy.
And at some point the prayer is over, suddenly there is a scurry everywhere. We look for our shoes and leave the mosque with everyone else. A wonderful experience. An enchanting place.
#HagiaSofia #Ayasofya #moschee #istanbul
