ISTANBUL

As a reward after a difficult exam period, we were eagerly looking forward to our tour of Christian art in Constantinople. On Saturday, 12 February, we met at the Prague Airport and set off for Istanbul. Our stay in the city, at the border of two continents, started with a late dinner, and we literally tasted the atmosphere of the late evening in Istanbul. On our first morning, while waiting for the Hagia Sophia to open, we passed the time tying on our scarves, required for all women wanting to enter today's mosque. Changing the original church into a mosque meant not only adding minarets, taking off shoes and covering hair, but also unfortunately covering up all anthropomorphic depictions, including the original mosaics. We entered the Hagia Sophia through a side entrance, which the emperor himself used, and moved to the entrance for the clergy on the west side. Crossing through two narthexes, we entered the monumental space and understood why Justinian, after seeing his work, exclaimed: “Solomon, I have outdone you!” A space topped by a dome and with a golden mosaic apse opened before us. Here, in our warm socks, we listened to the professor's detailed interpretation, which allowed us to at least imagine the beauty of the covered mosaics.

After a lunch break at local restaurants, we moved on to the museum in the church of Hagia Irene, located near the Hagia Sophia. Inside the church, we had a discussion about the function of the synthronon, and Professor Foletti finally told us that the most likely hypothesis was that these grandstands for the clergy were used to play with light in Christian rituals. From there, we moved through the Constantin Forum to the Kalenderhane Mosque, which was our last stop before our authentic experience of oriental atmosphere, in the form of a waterpipe.

The next day, we came to the site of the original hippodrome, with a spolia obelisk from Egypt. After the Fatih and Zeyrek Mosques, we came to a structure that was probably originally a baptistery. To look inside, we had to wait for prayers to begin. As we waited, it was time for a lunch break. We explored the surrounding alleys, some had kebabs, others tried Turkish pizza, others still a vegetarian dish called Çiğ köfte. On top of all this, we ordered Turkish tea, a traditional drink called Ayran, and ended the break on a sweet note, in the form of baklava. After inspecting the interior of the baptistery, now also a Muslim ritual space, we walked to the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, which was, regrettably, closed for reconstruction. We weaved our way through the aisles of the bazaar and some of us very much welcomed the chance to participate in the traditional bargaining of local traders. We ended the evening again by enjoying the waterpipe.

Our last full day in Istanbul began with a visit to a museum with fragments of floor mosaics from the Great Palace of Constantinople. We visited the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, which is now a mosque. From Little Hagia Sophia, as this church is also called, we went all the way to the city’s original fortifications and had the opportunity to get a sense of the size of medieval Constantinople with our feet. After a long journey through winding alleys, full of pedestrians and cars, we understood why we received an email the night before we left, emphasising the importance of good footwear. Our group then moved along the double walls to the mausoleum of Silivri Kapi, located in the space between them. We were separated from the monument by a gate, but each of us successfully overcame this obstacle on our own, reaching the mausoleum itself. Much to our delight, we did not find it, as previous expeditions had, in the state of a squat, but tidy, with restoration work under way. The professor was able to see the cleaned murals in this mausoleum for the first time with us. With adrenaline pumping, we headed through the Fenari Isa Mosque to the archaeological museum, where we wanted to see Byzantine art. However, we unfortunately discovered that this exhibit had been closed as part of the museum’s redevelopment. So, we took a break instead. In the evening, we gathered again at the waterpipe. And where else could we end our trip other than where we first met old Constantinople face-to-face – the temple of Hagia Sophia.

Constantinople has become Istanbul, and is trying to live up to its name as the Gateway to the Orient, which is probably the reason it’s no longer possible to see anthropomorphic depictions and an exhibition in the museum concerning the Christian past of the city. However, we will never forget the experience of climbing over a real gate in addition to the imaginary boundary to see the anthropomorphic Christian depictions with our own eyes.