Turkiye Day 2 - Ayasofya Muzesi, Istanbul

Assalamualaikum. Marhaba.

Holla! Laju kan aku update kali ni. Nampak sangat banyak rehat. Oklah, take five jap sementara tunggu kuih muih ku masak. Kalau non stop di dapur, nanti ada muka aku ni jadi over mulus pula. Sebab asyik berdepan sama steamer. Bau perfume pun ndak dapat lawan bau tepung-and-kelapa yang melekat di badan aku sekarang. Demiii...haruslah gigihkan diri.

Anyway, sambung cerita dari previous entry. Lepas belek German Fountain lebih kurang, aku pun ikut langkah kaki. And headed to Ayasofya or Hagia Sophia. Somehow aku prefer its Turkish name. Nampak lagi lembut & sophisticated gitu. Before tu, mari baca sikit sejarah pasal Ayasofya. 

"Ayasofya is a former Greek Orthodox church, later an imperial mosque. First Turkish President; Mustafa Kemal Ataturk transformed the building into a museum in 1935. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It is said to have changed the history of architecture. From its initial conversion until the construction of the nearby larger Blue Mosque of Istanbul in 1616, it was the principal mosque of Istanbul." -wikipedia-

5 April 2015

Sultanahmet, Istanbul

# The fountain located in the middle between Ayasofya & Blue Mosque.

Masa duduk lepak on one of the benches there; while facing Ayasofya...teruslah menyesali decision aku untuk stay di Taksim. Sebelum sampai Istanbul, aku memang ada book hotel di Sultanahmet. And that hotel memang sangat dekat dengan all the main attractions; walking distance only. Pastu memang confirm every morning akan cuci mata tengok those beautiful pillars & dome while having breakfast. 

Tapi aku kena bijak atur itu ini. Aku sampai dari Doha sudah malam, pastu kalau mau pi Sultanahmet kena naik funicular & tram lagi. Alangkah seksa diri kan kalau kena mengangkut anak gajah lagi semua. Hence the decision to just stay at Taksim. Lagipun cuma dua malam ni Istanbul, esok malam aku akan berangkat pi Denizli. And tempat untuk ambil bas tu di Taksim. Jadinya, kira berbaloi juga keputusan aku tu kan. Walau rugi lah ndak dapat cuci mata tengok bangunan bersejarah ni di waktu malam. Sekian explanation panjang lebar walhal tiada bertanya. Saja suka-suki kasi pencerahan. 

# Can't help but to imagine...how it really looks like back then. Masa zaman kegemilangan Ayasofya ni.

# Some says Ayasofya is pink in color. Hmm part pink, aku angguk laju-laju although others might see it as red-brick.

# Admission Fee - TL 30.

# Body & bag screening before entering the museum. Antara faktor kenapa queue panjang. 

Fyi, tripod jenis kecil & kaki fleksibel tu adalah dilarang untuk dibawa masuk. I had monopod in my bag & aku jalan limpas scanner dengan jayanya. How did I know about the tripod thingy? The security guard held the tripod belong to the couple in front of me. Diorang bagi satu kad untuk claim tripod tu nanti masa keluar. 

Audio guide is available for rental just after the security check. And I decided to just roam freely without having to wear the headphones. Lagipun sama jak dengan apa yang aku boleh baca dari information plaques. So, jimatlah TL10. Sebenarnya boleh juga beli Museum Pass; lagi jimat kalau mau visit more than 3 museums yang pass tu cover. Aku pun mula memang plan mau beli 3-days Pass tapi nasib ndak baik. Pass tu sold out. Menyesal ndak beli online. Yang tinggal masa tu cuma 5-days Pass in which harus aku ndak beli sebab aku cuma ada 2 days di Istanbul. 

# Entering the church-mosque-museum via the Imperial Gate.

Soon after kaki melangkah masuk, aku terus berdiri kaku. Speechless! Crowds of people didn't succeed in distracting me. Neither did the restoration work. Masa ni, tengah cuba untuk digest fakta yang aku sedang berdiri di dalam Ayasofya. 

Terus teringat buku 99 Cahaya Langit Eropah (II). Betapa masa baca buku tu, aku selalulah imagine macamana rupa bangunan hebat ni. And sangat sangat ndak sangka, aku sudah sampai di sana. Now I know why people who have been here can't express their feeling in words. Sebab aku pun sama. Words just cannot justify my feeling at that time. 

# The dome. 

Unfortunately because of the ongoing restoration work, only half of the interior could be seen. Pi Soraksan dulu pun construction sana sini, and now di Ayasofya pula. Redhalah. Janji sudah sampai, sudah menjejak, tapi belum puas mengkagumi. Sejarah di sebalik bangunan agung ni memang pahit. Cuma tu lah, siapa kita untuk ubah sejarah tu kan. Doa aku moga suatu hari, azan akan kedengaran lagi dari 'masjid' ni. 

# Painting of two of the four immense cherubs could be seen in this picture. Also an image of Virgin Mary holding Jesus. Circular-framed medallions inscribed with the names of Allah, Muhammad, the first four Caliphs & the two grandchildren of Muhammad were hung on columns.

# Up there is the upper gallery. 

# Mihrab (left); perhaps one day akan ada imam berdiri di situ sambil memimpin solat. Minbar (right) tempat Khatib menyampaikan Khutbah. 

# Gagah untuk menapak naik pi upper gallery. This is one super slippery passage. Sikit aku tergelincir masa naik ni.

# The ongoing repair work doesn't stop people from visiting Ayasofya.

# At one of the corner at the upper gallery. .

Lama aku berdiri di corner ni. Berimaginasi sendirian berhad. Until one lady came to me & offered to take my picture. Apakah? Aku pun layan jak lah

# This is the Loge of the Empress; located in the center of the upper gallery. This is where the Empress & the court-ladies would watch any proceedings down below. 

Semasa penaklukan Islam, Sultan Mehmed II bagi arahan untuk tukar gereja ni menjadi masjid. Hence, some of the mosaics di upper gallery yang menggambarkan Jesus, Christian Saints & angels were either removed or plastered over. This is due to Islam's ban on representational imagery.

Famous restoration commanded by Sultan Abdulmecid uncovered & cleaned many of the mosaics, Yet some were recovered for protection against further damage. It is only after Ataturk transformed Ayasofya into a museum does all the white plaster covering mosaics was removed. Pasal tu sekarang, memang boleh nampak most of the mosaics. Even drawings di dome yang dulunya covered with plaster pun makin visible sebab banyak plaster yang sudah tanggal. 

# The Deesis mosaic was commissioned to mark the end of 57 years of Roman Catholic use and the return to the Orthodox faith. 

# Comnenus mosaic depicting Mother Mary holding Christ on her lap. On the left is John II Comnenus holding a purse; symbol of an imperial donation to the church. While on the right is Empress Irene; seen offering a document to Virgin.

# View of the Blue Mosque from one of the window at Ayasofya.

Sebenarnya tingkap tu sangat tinggi. Tapi gigihlah juga aku ikut mat-minah salleh yang lain. Diorang angkat tangan jak sudah dapat snap. Aku? Siap bertinting...siap angkat tangan. Pun masih ndak nampak, jadinya pasrah main klik-klik jak. Turned out hasil adalah tidak mengecewakan. 

# Remains of Ayasofya were being displayed outside the museum. 

Di luar perkarangan muzium ni ada cafe & souvenir shop. Mula tu ada juga plan untuk lepak ngeteh tapi cafe adalah penuh sesak. I had to forego my niat. Lepak duduk jaklah outside the muzium. Sambil cuci mata tengok orang. I spent nearly three hours in here. Tu pun rasa macam ndak cukup. I wish I have more time. Tu pun ada few corners of the museum were closed to public due to the restoration work. Confirm kalau sections tu buka, lagi lama aku dalam ni. 

Sudah melepas lelah, I made my way out from the museum. Queue di luar makin panjang. Syukurlah aku sampai awal. Ala, the weather was very nice that day I don't think people would mind queuing. Walau ada cahaya mentari, tapi langsung tiada rasa panas. Angin spring lah katakan.

# Ablution fountain just outside Ayasofya; before the exit gate. 

Subhanallah. Terus imagine lagi. Masa zaman kegemilangan Islam di Turki, mesti ramai yang ambil wudhu' di sini. Aku rasa memang kerja aku sepanjang hari was trying to imagine macam mana keadaan masa lalu di Istanbul. Or dulu dikenali juga as Constantinople. 

Keluar dari Ayasofya, langkah kaki terus bawa aku pi area fountain. Macam ndak cukup gambar aku ambil sebelum masuk muzium, sampai fountain...aku snap few more pictures. Pastu duduk di bench lagi. Bukan lepas lelah, bukan cuci mata. Tapi tukar bateri kamera. Aigoo baru few hours keluar dari hostel, the juice has already drained out. Banyak gambar aku ambil tapi ndak semua aku upload dalam ni. Haruslah bakal mengundang amarah kalau page loading. So, upload jaklah mana yang berpatutan di mata si Err.

Anyway, ke mana hala tuju seterusnya? Ehem, haruslah bangunan yang bertentangan sama Ayasofya. The Blue Mosque! As usual, yang tu aku sambung cerita di next entry. Before tu, kasi teaser dulu lah kan. 

# Sultanahmet Mosque or famously known as Blue Mosque.

Annyeong!

p/s Thanks to Aza; dapat bayangan juga how Sultanahmet looks like at night. Memang lawa beb. No wonder kau cakap susah nak describe feeling bahagia masa kat Turki. I feel u bebeh!

eryantierdabdulkarim