The mosaic in Hagia Sophia I most wanted to see was that of the Blessed Virgin which is upstairs where our tour guide did not go. The Smithsonian magazine had used this as the cover picture of its December article on the church.

When the Moslems took over the church in the 15th century, the Sultan allowed several mosaics to remain, including one of the Virgin Mary and some angels whom he regarded as guardians of the city.

One of the mosaics in the entrance hall shows Leo the wise on knees before Christ. I think Leo proved to be not so wise in his marriages and is probably begging Jesus for an annulment.

In the glory days of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine emperors from the 7th to the 14th centuries were all crowned at this spot on the floor marked with a series of inlaid rings.

When it was turned into a mosque this pulpit was erected on the right side of the sanctuary. The interesting thing about the pulpit is that the mullah does not ascend to the top to preach, for the top of the pulpit is reserved for Allah. So the mullah preaches from the stairs leading to the top.

The Basilica looks different from each point of view. This is the main entrance, which faces west and the sea. It was easy enough for the Moslems to turn it into a Mosque since the sanctuary faces the east which happens to also be the direction of Mecca.

This is the north side. Excuse me for artificially coloring some areas to highlight the different architectural areas of the church. You can see from the massive buttresses in the middle one reason the basilica has withstood so many earthquakes.

This is the side of the basilica that faces the city. Four minarets were added during the Moslem occupation. Most mosques have only one, more important ones two. But Hagia Sophia was the ultimate place of worship. This view was taken from the park that separates Hagia Sophia from the Blue Mosque behind it. The Moslems just had to build their own on a equal scale to Hagia Sophia.