The Hagia Sophia used to be an Orthodox basilica, then it was a mosque, and now it's a museum. Churches on this site date back to the 4th century, although the current structure is the third incarnation. The Hagia Sophia is right across from the Blue Mosque, in front of which Eero is posing here. If you look the other way (the direction Eero is facing), you'll see the view with Vernon and Cielo in it and the Hagia Sophia in the background. They are holding Acma, also known as Turkish bagels. Yes, the sky was that beautiful every day.
The main room is a huge space. Like other grand spaces we went into in Istanbul, the lighting is suspended by extremely long cables from the ceiling. Here are Cielo and Eero making their way to the front.
Eero was pretty impressed.
Another look upward.
Every day we walked through Sultanahmet Park, which is the space between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, we would see fleets of tour buses, with people from all over the world. A lot of the tourists were headed in here.
You can go up into the upper gallery and look down. Here are Alison and the kids peering across a balcony back at the camera.
And Eero and Cielo, and a look at the railing.
Some really nice painting on the ceilings. That's Eero being blurry on the left, and behind him is Cielo having a timeout.
Everywhere you look in Hagia Sophia there is something impressive.
Gorgeous bookmatched stone.
