July 8, 2020

"Completed in 537 AD, Hagia Sophia stood for nearly a millennium at the heart of the Christian world...."

"In 1453, Mehmed II conquered Constantinople, and although his troops plundered what they could carry, the building was saved and turned into a mosque. For 500 years it was the venerated center of the Muslim Ottoman Empire.... Minarets were added, and later the great Ottoman architect Sinan built massive buttresses to prevent the walls from buckling under the weight of the dome, which was damaged in earthquakes. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire... Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern secular republic of Turkey, ended the role of religion in the state and closed religious institutions.... But [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s supporters speak of the building as the third holiest site in Islam, after the Grand Mosque of Mecca and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and insist that once a mosque it should never be unconsecrated."

From "Erdogan Talks of Making Hagia Sophia a Mosque Again, to International Dismay/The World Heritage site was once a potent symbol of Christian-Muslim rivalry, and it could become one once more" (NYT).

"Beyond politics, art historians and conservationists worry that they will lose access for study and research if the monument becomes a working mosque, and tourist companies and city authorities fear that visitors will be deterred from coming. The monument is the most visited tourist site in Turkey, with 3.7 million visitors last year.... The greatest worry is what will happen to the incomparable medieval mosaics, among them depictions of Christ, the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, alongside rare portraits of imperial figures including Emperor Justinian I and Empress Zoe, one of the few women to rule in her own right. The mosaics were whitewashed for the more than five centuries during Ottoman rule — the depiction of the human form being considered idolatry — and were uncovered and restored only after Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum in the 1930s..... If the museum becomes a mosque, the mosaics will have to be covered during Muslim prayers somehow, including seraphs high up at the base of the dome. Tourists and non-Muslims may be restricted to certain areas...."

A thousand years is a long time and 500 years is a long time. All that religion in one phenomenal place, but the solution, since 1935, has been to keep it as a museum.

It's interesting to encounter this problem at a time when we here in America are struggling over whether to retain images of human heroes. I respect the desire to use a structure to practice a living religion — especially in a phenomenally beautiful building — but the artwork is artwork of another religion, and there's such a strong interest in protecting access for Christians and those of us who love art and architecture.

Here's a "Great Courses" episode on Hagia Sophia (click on Episode 3). I've seen it and strongly recommend it. You'll get lots of closeup looks at the mosaics and the architectural details. I've watched the whole course — "The World's Greatest Churches" — and the teacher ranks Hagia Sophia as the greatest church building in the world.

46 comments:

doctrev said...

As long as Turkey remains under Muslim control, I can't really blame them for using their own buildings as they want. However, if they don't permit the artifacts to be sent to a Christian country, then it would be equally within Israel's rights to level Al-Aqsa and build a Third Temple in its place.

Michael K said...

I visited Hagia Sophia in 2006. The guide I had pointed out that they were removing the panels of Quran calligraphy that had been erected after 1453. Beneath those panels, they found that the mosaics beneath had been carefully protected by the workmen who erected the panels. The mosaics had been covered in clay and straw before the panels were placed over them. The workmen were Muslims, no doubt among the "converts," but anticipating a restoration of the church some day.

Erdogan wants to be a sultan.

MikeR said...

"the mosaics will have to be covered during Muslim prayers somehow" Not a problem; they can whitewash it again.

traditionalguy said...

What a Byzantine issue. Free Speech and tolerance are unlikely to make the cut in Turkey. Looks like Emperor Constantine's old church is going to be weaponized by the Arabs again.

Darrell said...

Make it a Mosque again and put another 600-year curse on Islam. Go ahead.

rhhardin said...

They're building what now suddenly appears to be a church on my bike commute
photo
after a few months of nondescript site preparation.

It's a matter now of moving in mosaics and setting up shop.

Balfegor said...

I visited the Hagia Sofia years ago on a graduation trip to Constantinople. It was one of the highlights of the trip. I suppose it's their business if they want to reconvert it into a mosque again -- they conquered the City in 1453 and it was ultimately never recaptured -- but it would be a pity. The Blue Mosque is already a spendid and originally Moslem mosque in the heart of Constantinople, and I don't think they have any capacity issues for worshippers in the City.

Ambrose said...

I say make it a mosque. It is a potent symbol of how everything good in Islam was stolen from another people’s culture.

Fritz said...

So, you're admitting BLM is a religion?

Mr Wibble said...

Make Constantinople Great Again.

gspencer said...

Anything and/or anyone near a Muslim is always near destruction/death.

Mr Wibble said...

I visited the Hagia Sofia years ago on a graduation trip to Constantinople. It was one of the highlights of the trip. I suppose it's their business if they want to reconvert it into a mosque again -- they conquered the City in 1453 and it was ultimately never recaptured -- but it would be a pity. The Blue Mosque is already a spendid and originally Moslem mosque in the heart of Constantinople, and I don't think they have any capacity issues for worshippers in the City.

It's not about capacity, but power. Erdogan wants to humiliate Christians, and by extension the West, by showing the world that hey are powerless to stop him.

Sebastian said...

Watch out, Erdogan! U.S. progs will come after you for cultural appropriation! You don't want to be canceled by them!

MayBee said...

Hagia Sophia is one of the things I think about as people rampage cities tearing down and defacing monuments. I realized I was a Christian Teamer when I visited and kept getting upset that it had been converted to a mosque over all the beautiful artwork.

I suppose today's BLM and Antifa rampagers would be fine with the idea of destroying the Christian artwork in the Hagia Sophia, too. There was a time when the left was really upset about the Taliban destroying the giant buddhas, but that time is past.

mikee said...

Turkey, since the time of Ataturk, has maintained a military fully capable of, and constitutionally required, to maintain a secular government there and prevent any religious theocracy from gaining power. They had coups any number of times to prevent Islamic fundamentalists from becoming the rulers in Turkey. At what point do they treat the secular, but dictatorial, Erdogan as a religious threat to Turkey, too?

Churchy LaFemme: said...

That's nobody's business but the Turks!

Kevin said...

A world heritage site you say?

Why that’s supposed to confer supreme moral protection by a small group of self-important people.

Feathers are most certainly going to be ruffled!

tim maguire said...

The Christian art was preserved because the workers doing the conversion to a mosque were Christian. If it returns to life as a mosque, the conversion will be done by Muslims and we can no confidence that the art will be preserved a second time.

Fernandinande said...

speak of the building as the third holiest site in Islam

"The most sacred place in the whole nation, probably the U.S., the whole world, and you're putting a price on it!"

... "We don't get a paycheck every two weeks!"

tam said...

> At what point do they treat the secular, but dictatorial, Erdogan as a religious threat to Turkey, too?

Within the past few years, Turkey has had a thorough purge of the armed forces removing any officers that might have thought about doing that. A lot of the secular officers are now languishing in a Turkish prison and those that remain on duty are certifiably loyal.

Bruce Hayden said...

“ Erdogan wants to be a sultan.”

Well, why not? Up until a century ago, the Turks were the dominant power in Islam, and had been for quite some time - well over a half a millennium.

I found Crooked Hillary’s Arab Spring a bit odd. Never did make a lot of sense. She was essentially trying to set up a new caliphate based in Egypt. There was talk about her new caliphate. Libya made some sense. Though he was behaving himself, it was just too tempting to push him out, esp with the country’s oil wealth just sitting there waiting to be grabbed. No doubt, her buddy, Sydney Blumenthal, whispering ($$$$$) in her ear didn’t hurt. She then flipped Egypt to the Muslim Brotherhood, who had her ear through her protégée, Huma Abedelin. Building a caliphate though requires more than 1.2 countries. That was where Syria was supposed to come in, securing the Fertile Crescent. Except that the leadership in Syria refused to oblige and vacate their palaces for her and her new caliphate.

One of the side effects of Clinton’s attempt to build her new caliphate was the reorientation of Turkey. Syria lies next door to Turkey, and Turkey most recently held the caliphate, from 1517, for the next 400 years, until it picked the wrong side in WW I. Moreover, it was their conquest Of Egypt in 1517 that gave them the caliphate (of course, part of their legitimacy of their caliphate was based on holding Mecca and Medina, which is not going to happen again, any time soon). She also seemed to have forgotten that Syria was a quasi client state of Iran. Before anyone really realized what was happening, there was a three sided proxy fight going on in Syria, with Turkey swinging away from its western orientation of the 20th Century, back towards its roots as the strongman of the Muslim world.

In any case, an argument can be made that the re-Islamication of Turkey can be blamed, to some extent, on Crooked Hillary and St Obama and their mercenary foreign policy.

Michael K said...

It's not about capacity, but power. Erdogan wants to humiliate Christians, and by extension the West, by showing the world that hey are powerless to stop him.

I agree and he has decimated the military as he goes on. I worry about the fate of some of the Turkish military I met.

He will destroy the economy of Turkey, as well.

Rick said...

we here in America are struggling over whether to retain images of human heroes.

This is not happening.

Rick said...

MayBee said...
There was a time when the left was really upset about the Taliban destroying the giant buddhas, but that time is past.


Their rules are more complicated than this suggests. The left's need to denigrate American (or Western Civ depending on context) culture overrides all other considerations. But since Christianity isn't involved in this conflict the left's judgments could remain more traditionally liberal in the case.

Rick said...

mikee said...
At what point do they treat the secular, but dictatorial, Erdogan as a religious threat to Turkey, too?


July 15, 2016.

Spoiler: the coup failed.

Mr Wibble said...

heir rules are more complicated than this suggests

Not really. They reflexively side with whichever group has the least supposed power. Hence white, christian males are considered to always be at fault when compared to any other group. If the Taliban destroy the Buddhas, they'll side with the Buddhas, but when the Taliban are killing western soldiers they side with the Taliban.

Michael K said...

the re-Islamication of Turkey can be blamed, to some extent, on Crooked Hillary and St Obama and their mercenary foreign policy.

I suspect that Hugh Rodham was around to pick up a few shekels. He has been her bag man since she stopped being Bill's. They really cleaned up on Haiti.

rcocean said...

Its odd that the Muslim Conquest of Constantinople the greatest Christian City of the Eastern Empire, is always passed over in silence. The Ottoman's of course, not only pillaged, raped, and looted (S.O.P for those days) they destroyed all the Christian Churches or converted them to Mosques. Thousands were sold into Slavery. Those Christians who remained were reduced to 2nd class citizens.

IF the Catholic Church had done something similar in 1453, we'd never the end of it, and the Pope would be on "Apology to the Muslim World" number 123. The Crusades have already been painted as "Super evil" but the Muslim's get a pass for their aggression for some reason.

Jupiter said...

"I suppose it's their business if they want to reconvert it into a mosque again -- they conquered the City in 1453 and it was ultimately never recaptured..."

Ultimately? Don't sell the Russians short. If they decide to restore the Hagia Sophia, who's going to stop them? Nice little warm-water port there, into the bargain.

Narr said...

If history is allowed to be written a few centuries from now, the best name for the late 20th-early 21st C would be The Return of the Irrational.

The most productive idea in the history of the world, the most liberating force, the greatest achievement of the West-- Secularism is under attack everywhere.

And it will end in mass murder in the name of faith.

Narr
Bets?

BarrySanders20 said...

From Wiki:

"The building was constructed between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the prior one having been destroyed by rioters in the Nika riots."

c365 said...

The West has given him free reign to do so by tearing down our own statues. He can point to all the violence the Byzantines did as justification.

It's not exactly parallel, but it doesn't need to be. He has a base of supporters across the Islamic world that hate the West.

Gabriel said...

Well, if Americans have to carefully consider whether erecting statues of secular figures in an American national park might offend the religious sensibilities of Muslims (those Muslim who hold to aniconistic views anyway, which has never been all of them) I suppose it's reasonable to demand that a Muslim country consider carefully whether the place of worship they pay all the bills for must have art antithetical to their religion displayed within it.

I'm a Byzantine history buff, and sympathetic to the art, but baffled by the Althouse takes.

One of the titles used by the Ottoman sultans was "Keyser i Rum", which is to say "Caesar of Rome". From their perspective, the continuity of the Roman Empire had not been broken by the change of dynasty and religion, any more than the Byzantines thought it had been broken when THEY changed dynasties and religion.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Actually it was recaptured -- by the Brits in the endgame of WWI. Which is ironic because trying to force those straits earlier famously didn't work. Ultimately they didn't know what to do with it, and the ensuing Chanak crisis finally brought the Lloyd-George governmnet down, destroying the Liberal party forever.

PM said...

Constantinople - the ancestral home of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Wikitorix said...

From their perspective, the continuity of the Roman Empire had not been broken by the change of dynasty and religion, any more than the Byzantines thought it had been broken when THEY changed dynasties and religion.

The Roman Empire was not a hereditary monarchy. Neither was the Byzantine Empire. Changing dynasties wasn't a problem - both empires did it multiple times.

Also, the Byzantines didn't change religions. The Roman Catholics split off from the Orthodox church, not the other way around. The Orthodox kept the original wording of the Nicene Creed, and the Catholics changed it. At times there has been discussions in the Catholic Church of changing it back, but nothing has ever come of it.

narciso said...

it's fascinating, because there's a turkish soap, kara sevda, (eternal love roughly translated) which is dubbed into spanish, a tear jerker better than most english soaps which I'm sure is set in the 90s, because the women are uncovered,

the clinton's did have haiti as their territory, there was a ring of mark rich's associates, chawdary and kurzin, who carved up nigeria in the 00s, enabling the rise of boko haram,

JaimeRoberto said...

I wonder if there are protesters in Turkey who complain that Turkey sits on stolen land.

Original Mike said...

I've always wanted to see it, but there's no way in hell I would visit Turkey today.

I only look stupid.

Gabriel said...

@Wikitorix:Also, the Byzantines didn't change religions. The Roman Catholics split off from the Orthodox church, not the other way around.

Depends on who's telling the story. But before that unquestionably Constantine changed his religion TO Christianity, and his successor Theodosius who ruled from Constantinople changed the state religion TO Christianity, and it didn't end the continuity of the Empire.

And that they were Turks instead of Greeks calling themselves Romans didn't matter from the Turkish perspective, non-Romans and non-Greeks had ruled the empire before.

Kirk Parker said...

mikee,

"At what point do[es the Turkish military] treat the secular, but dictatorial, Erdogan as a religious threat to Turkey, too?"

Never. Erdogan successfully purged the officer corps of those who cared.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

BURN THIS BITCH DOWN!!!

narciso said...

and gulen helped him do, using the pretext of the grey wolves,

Biff said...

rcocean said... "IF the Catholic Church had done something similar in 1453, we'd never the end of it, and the Pope would be on "Apology to the Muslim World" number 123."

Well, to be fair, there was that whole Sack of Constantinople kerfuffle at the end of the Fourth Crusade. Eight hundred years or so later, Pope John Paul II felt the need to express regret over the incident.

Biff said...

tim maguire said...The Christian art was preserved because the workers doing the conversion to a mosque were Christian. If it returns to life as a mosque, the conversion will be done by Muslims and we can no confidence that the art will be preserved a second time.

Sort of related: I worry about our libraries. I'm an occasional visitor to the stacks of one of the world's greatest university libraries. There are books and manuscripts on the general access shelves there that easily could serve as centerpieces for the rare books libraries of many other institutions. I've come across hand-lettered folios that are hundreds of years old.

These materials are accessible without supervision to any students, staff, or other community members with a library card. I often wonder how many irreplaceable original materials disappear or are destroyed at the hands of woke activists who disapprove of something someone said a couple of hundred years ago. To be honest, I don't even trust the librarians themselves any more.

gpm said...

>> Make Constantinople Great Again

First you need to make it Constantinople again. Courtesy of the Four Lads:

Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go to Constantinople
Now it's ISTANBUL, not Constantinople . . .
That's nobody's business but the Turks

My recollection of the lyrics included "used to be Constantinople, but now it's not Constantinople, it's ISTANBUL," but I couldn't find any confirmation of those lyrics.

Also a bit weird that the current name apparently derives from an expression in Greek meaning something like "to the city" (eis ten polin).

>>I wonder if there are protesters in Turkey who complain that Turkey sits on stolen land.

It's been something of an amusement (for want of a better word) to me that a large part of the Turkish tourism spiel is "Come and see the pitiful remnants of the advanced civilization that we destroyed!"

--gpm