Sightseeing in Istanbul.

 Today's story is back to front.  After visiting the Haga Sofia we caught the tram out to visit the Dolmabahce Palace.  The photo above is of the front of the Palace.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside.

The Palace's history which I know my good friend David Powell loves to read about as he's a real history buff goes like this.  In the late 1800's a series of lazy and incompetent Sultans had started to push the Ottoman Empire into decline os Sultan Abdulmecid I, the empire's 31st Sultan decided to build Dolmabahce Palace in an effort to get the empire's mojo back.  The Sultan thought the poor Palace was too oriental and felt they needed one more in the image of the Rocco palaces of Austria and France.  It took the Sultan from 1843 to 1853 to complete, but when he was finished the result was a Palace any royal monarch would be happy to call home.  In all the Palace covers 11.2 acres, has 285 rooms, 467 halls, 6 baths and 28 toilets.

This Palace is completely over the top and an enormous amount of money must have been spent on this palace.  Although some of the Palace rooms were quite grand indeed, one does have to wander how the Sultan can justify the Palace with 28 toilets and the rest.

After the Palace we caught the tram back to the Blue Mosque and walked back to the Marmara Guesthouse to complete putting the bikes together.

 The first thing we did today was head on up to see Hagia Sofia.  Now this is one place that really takes your breath away.  It's situated about 100 metres from the Blue Mosque.  The Mosque has an interesting history and this is dedicated to one of other history buffs, Mr Ashley Lester.

The photo above is inside the Mosque.  The Mosque has 2 levels and you need a good hour to check it out.  The bright pink exterior is definitely misleading as you step into the black and gold interior of the 1,500 year old Hagia Sofia with its dim medieval lighting.  Words almost can't describe how your senses are thrown back in time and confused by mixed elements of Orthodox, Islamic, and Catholic origins.  Built in 537 AD by the Byzantines on the same spot as two previous churches. 

Hagia Sophia is considered one of the greatest religious buildings in the world.  This is the first time I've entered any religious site and found inscriptions of the Islamic faith, and paintings of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.  There was also Orthodox symbols around the Mosque.  Even had graffiti on some of the walls which was thought be made by the Vikings who passed through this part of the world a couple of hundred years ago. The inside of the Mosque is full of marble and must have taken a couple of thousand men to construct.

To give you an idea of how big this Mosque is, it is 182 feet tall, 104 feet wide and when it was completed was the largest Cathedral in the World until the Cathedral in Florence was built some 900 years later.  It's so big the Nortre Dame Cathedral in Paris could fit inside it.

 

The photo above shows the enormity of Hagia Sofia. The photo below is inside the Mosque.

The photo above is the area in which inaugurations occurred for the Sultans or extremely important people in the country.  It's also located inside Hagia Sofia.  The photo of the 2 gentlemen are my cycling buddies.  The chap on the left is Peter who will be riding with me through Eastern Europe and the other chap is Len who I rode with in Asia earlier this year.  Len will be meeting up with us the the last 3 weeks of the ride. 

Tomorrow is another day of sightseeing which will take us up the Bosphorus Strait up to the Black Sea. On Friday we start the long ride. 

Until tomorrow, safe riding.