Sunday 8 February 2009

St Sophia Museum, Istanbul


Unused.  Bought by myself in 1994.

Istanbul - TÜRKİYE
Ayasofya Müzesi, Topkapı Sarayı ve boğaz

First of all St Sophia was a basilica, then a mosque and now a museum.  It was the focal point of the Eastern Orthodox church for 1000 years.  In 1453 it was converted into a mosque when Constantinople was conquered by the Ottaman Turks.  In 1935 it was converted to a museum.  Inside there are some wonderful mosaics.

On this postcard, behind the museum, you can see the Topkapi Palace and beyond that, the Bosphorus.  Istanbul is a fascinating city.  I was there only 3-4 days.  My feet were worn out exploring everywhere.

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7 comments:

  1. I agree about Istanbul. It is really fascinating. I had a week there staying with an ex-pat friend a good many years ago. I remember marvelling at Topkapi, and after our visit, feeling very nervous about a sad, chained bear that was padding down the hill after us with its master. Later we saw it again, posing with another young tourist for a photograph that she paid for.

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  2. It must have been great to be with someone who knew the way around. Sometimes I'd love to see places less as a tourist, with more input on what it's like living there.

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  3. I love Istanbul...a fascinating mix of Asian and European culture. This is now known as the Hagia Sophia.

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  4. I wanted you to know I “tagged” you on Journeys and Adventures the other day. I used it as a way to tell people about myself and some of my travel experiences.

    http://journeysandadventures.today.com/2009/02/08/ive-been-tagged-more-about-me/

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  5. I love this building, too. I've always wanted a postcard of it, but only now have one of a similar building in Istanbul.

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  6. MBL, thanks, I had intended to add that in, and forgot!

    Jennifer, thanks, I've very recently done a tag exactly the same. I struggled with that, so I don't think I could find any more.

    dmarks, fortunately quite a number of my Istanbul cards have survived. It must be 15 years since I was there.

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Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

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