Day 2 Istanbul: The tombs of 5 Ottoman emperors, and the Aya Sofya

It is hard to believe that Istanbul has anything but beautiful warm days with refreshing sea breezes. The perfect day made us enthusiastic about getting museum passes and checking out some of the many museums in the city.

First we stopped and admired the Fountain of Ahmet III, built in 1792, which stands outside Topkapi Palace.

Next, we visited the tombs of 5 Ottoman sultans which adjoin the Aya Sofya.  Each of the rather pleasing white domed buildings contains the tombs of an emperor and his immediate family.  What makes them different are principally the decorations at the entrance of, and within, each tomb.The first is that of Sultan Mehmet III, but it also contains the tombs of others in his family. It has this rather stylish ceiling outside:

But it is inside where you can see the splendid tilework:

The second contains  the tomb of  Sultan Selim II and several others. 

 

Once again, the tiles are really worth examining:

My favourite contains the tomb of  Murad III and others. The tiling outside is attractive

 but inside, the work is stunning

This one contains the tombs of the four sons and one daughter of  Sultan Murad III and is called the Tomb of Princes.  In comparison to the others, it is very simple in style and it is probably my least favourite:

The Baptistry was transformed into the last tomb, the tomb of  Sultan Mustafa I and Sultan Ibrahim.
It too is very plain after the first three.

After the elegance of the tombs, I found the Aya Sofya one of the ugliest buildings that I have ever seen.  It was intended to be a church and was built in 537 AD.  In 1453, Mehmet the Conqueror decided to have it converted into a mosque.  Then in 1935, Ataturk converted into a museum.  ( The day before we visited, there was a demonstration convert it back to a mosque.)  All the various religious changes, plus the need to rectify some structural problems make it, in my opinion, look lumpen and misshapen from the outside.  The queue was immensely long, it was unclear which queue was for those with special tickets and which was for people needing to buy a ticket, the Visa machines were not all working and so neither of us was feeling particularly fond of the building, despite all the testimonies of admirers.

However, once we entered, in spite of the necessary  and extensive repairs which spoil a lot of the impression of the building,  we were converted into admirers.  The inside is beautiful and quite stunning, whether one goes up to the balcony or remains at ground floor.

The artists that worked on this building did amazing work.  Some of the best, in my opinion, are the mosaics, the paining, the stonework and the metalwork.  However I was pretty chuffed to see the viking graffiti on one of the railings too.

Bob, on the other hand, was also fairly worried about the structure of the building,  Floors are buckling, pillars are listing and sinking, tiles are cracking.  He wasn't confident of the safety of the building.  Let us hope that they never have an earthquake in the area.

There is lots more to see outside of the main vaulted area too.  The baptistry is home to these beautiful oil jars.

 

 Outside, the gardens are festooned with old carvings and stonework from previous buildings.

contrary to the exterior impression, the Aya Sofya is  really worth visiting more than once.