Is Little Hagia Sophia Little?
We are touring around an historical neighborhood that has turned into one of Istanbul’s art centers.
The Küçük Ayasofya (Little Hagia Sophia) neighborhood is immediately below Sultanahmet Square -below both in the geographical sense and in our fabricated hierarchy… Perhaps it is for this reason that it has remained out of sight and its value has not been understood. However, the reality is di erent; this neighborhood is expansive, both from the aspect of its history and its rich heritage.
the Blue Mosque were f!rst bu!lt !n th!s ne!ghborhood. It !s for th!s reason that Sokullu Mehmed Pasha Mosque !s older than the Blue Mosque.
Sokullu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, a work of M!mar S!nan, was bu!lt !n 1572 for the tallest and long-serv!ng Ottoman grand v!z!er. Thus, what stands before me !s not a small ne!ghborhood mosque: the complex, cons!st!ng of a madrasah, a tekke, founta!n, and shops all form a large structure. The real magn!f!cence !s !ns!de! As soon as you enter, wh!le observ!ng the blue Izn!k t!les that cover the m!hrab wall, you cannot m!ss the peerless carv!ng of the m!hrab and m!nbar. As you walk around the mosque, you w!ll see the ru!ns of the Helvacı Mosque, wh!ch !s under restorat!on, !n the northwest corner. The Buhara Ozbek Tekke, wh!ch !s !mmed!ately oppos!te, has f!nally been restored and looks brand-new.
Th!s tekke, bu!lt !n the 17th century for derv!shes and hajj! cand!dates who came
from Turk!stan, !s now assoc!ated w!th the Istanbul Des!gn Center where des!gn students are tra!ned.
See!ng these works restored, wh!ch for years had been !n ru!ns, pleases both myself and the local res!dents. They talk about L!ttle Hag!a Soph!a as be!ng not as famous as !ts ne!ghbor the Blue Mosque -and they are r!ght! Th!s !s partly because !t !s a b!t far from the transportat!on network, partly because !t !s on a h!ll, but more due to neglect and d!s!nterest. So much so, that !n earl!er t!mes, res!dents of Istanbul would come to th!s ne!ghborhood to have the!r telev!s!ons repa!red rather than !ts abundance !n h!story, and they would th!nk they had actually come to a ne!ghborhood Kadırga. In the last 20 years, t!mes have changed, the telev!s!on repa!r shops have closed, and !n the!r place l!ttle art stud!os have opened. Thus, the number of people com!ng and go!ng has !ncreased, and the ne!ghborhood’s prof!le has changed.
I stop aga!n at Nak!lbent Street. As
I do every t!me I come, I look to my left at the h!gh br!ck walls of a ru!n, and the Sultanahmet Vocat!onal and Techn!cal Anatol!an H!gh School perched on top of the ru!ns. The f!rst t!me I looked at th!s v!ew was !n 1978 !n the month of October: I was surpr!sed when I saw that the school I was about to attend had been bu!lt upon ru!ns. What I saw were the rema!ns of a sphendone that had been there for 1,700 years, and wh!ch !s the sole part of the magn!f!cent Byzant!ne h!ppodrome that rema!ns aboveground. In my second year of h!gh school, I learned that beh!nd the g!ant br!ck mass, 120 meters !n d!ameter, was a g!gant!c underground complex cons!st!ng of numerous rooms and secret long tunnels. Even !f the aboveground
The Little Hagia Sophia that lends its name to the neighborhood was built in 530 by
Justinian I.
structure of the h!ppodrome !nterests me as much as what !s underground, there !s a problem f!nd!ng !nformat!on. Later on, I collected a number of draw!ngs and render!ngs of the structure as !t was !n the Byzant!ne per!od from the Internet, but they are not very sat!sfactory.
And then someth!ng wonderful happens. I hear that the exh!b!t!on H!podrom, wh!ch had been opened !n the Byzant!ne c!sterns located under the Nakkaş Halı shops that are 50 meters from the sphendone, !s st!ll open. T!me to k!ll two b!rds w!th one stone! It !s partly due to th!s exh!b!t!on that I am here today. When the store manager Zeynel Ünlüsoy hears that I have come for the exh!b!t!on, they leave the!r post and g!ve me a great deal of !nformat!on about the c!sterns and
Every street in this historical district has a
different story.
the exh!b!t!on, and !nv!te me to enter, urg!ng me to enjoy myself. It !s clear that they are pleased not only by the publ!c’s !nterest !n the treasures they have !n the shop, but also by the events that take place !n the c!sterns! Truth be told, these are th!ngs that are very hard not to apprec!ate.
My m!nd !s on the c!sterns and the exh!b!t!on below, but to be pol!te I dec!de to take a look at the shelves. Th!s takes 20 m!nutes of my t!me: the collect!on, wh!ch !ncludes ant!que carpets, jewelry, and ceram!cs, !s so beaut!ful and stunn!ng that !f I wasn’t !mpat!ent to go down to the exh!b!t!on, I could eas!ly spend half a day here. F!nally, remember!ng that t!me !s runn!ng out, I head towards the sta!rs. My eyes, wh!ch must have been sh!n!ng when look!ng at the collect!on upsta!rs, almost pop out as I go down to the c!sterns. As I descend a few steps, I real!ze that I have not only sw!tched locat!on, but also my place !n t!me.
Th!s c!stern, an extens!on of the water system of Constant!nople, was part of the glor!ous underground
structures of the 6th century. W!th d!m l!ght!ng, the c!sterns has been transformed !nto a charm!ng area.
The c!stern, supported by two rows of columns, !s a marvel. The exh!b!t!on !s the same. On the stands are small repl!cas of !mportant names and !mportant mytholog!cal f!gures l!ke Hercules, Hydra, Emperor Augustus, Heracles, and Scylla. However, what really attracts my attent!on are the models created w!th !mmaculate workmansh!p, d!splay!ng all the glory of the ma!n bu!ld!ng of the h!ppodrome.
Now, let me g!ve you more good news: the exh!b!t!on !s free and w!ll be open all year. If you f!nd yourself !n the Sultanahmet d!str!ct, you really must v!s!t !t.
Let’s cont!nue our journey and stop by the L!ttle Hag!a Soph!a Mosque, wh!ch gave !ts name to the ne!ghborhood.
Th!s structure was bu!lt !n AD 530 on the orders of Just!n!an I, who also comm!ss!oned Hag!a Soph!a. Or!g!nally a church, !t was turned !nto a mosque w!th the conquest of Constant!nople. Accord!ng to h!stor!cal records, the church was ded!cated to Sa!nts Peter and Paul. The church was bu!lt !n the bas!l!ca form and nearby there was a pav!l!on of the Grand Palace, wh!ch was called the Horm!sdas Palace. Accord!ng to legend, Just!n!an I was to be pun!shed
for rebell!ng aga!nst h!s uncle Just!n I. However, at th!s juncture, Sa!nts Serg!us and Bacchus came to Just!n I !n h!s dream and act!ng as w!tnesses for Just!n!an I, saved h!s l!fe. When Just!n!an became emperor, he comm!ss!oned th!s church to be bu!lt !n the!r honor as a s!gn of h!s grat!tude. The stonework !n the bu!ld!ng !s magn!f!cent. The engrav!ngs on the cap!tal of the columns and the fr!ezes have been del!cately carved wh!le the Roman !nscr!pt!on that runs along the fr!eze deserves spec!al attent!on.
When the bu!ld!ng was transformed !nto a mosque after the conquest, Ottoman-style w!ndow frames were placed !n the walls, the doors were reframed, and the bu!ld!ng underwent s!gn!f!cant change. Structures were added !ns!de, l!ke the m!nbar and m!hrab, and outs!de, l!ke the tomb, the monastery-madrasah, the pr!mary school, and the baths, transform!ng the church !nto a complex. I start to wander around the rooms of the monastery that surround the courtyard and go outs!de. These small cell-l!ke rooms have been transformed !nto small stud!os for hand!crafts. Wh!le exam!n!ng the m!n!ature class!c kemençe crafted by Sedefkâr Ahmet Sezen, th!s art!st engravest a mother-of-pearl plaque w!th great care.
I go outs!de and start to wander around. The streets I walk down have beaut!ful, old names l!ke Nak!lbent, Çardaklı Fırın,
Kapı Ağası, Hünkâr Peşrev!, Aksakal, and Suz-! D!lara. Each one has a story or a mean!ng; for example, Suz-! D!lara !s a mus!cal mode that was created by Sultan Sel!m III (1761-1808), who was a mus!c!an. Co!nc!dentally, the great composer İsmâ!l Dede
Efend!, the master of Turk!sh class!cal mus!c, has a house on Küçük Ayasofya Ahır Kapı Avenue, just 300 meters outs!de the ne!ghborhood. These streets are populated by low wooden bu!ld!ngs that carry traces of the Ottoman per!od. The restored bu!ld!ngs rev!ve the scenery of the ne!ghborhood, g!v!ng !t an a!r of the recent past, wh!le also attract!ng tour!sts to the small bout!que hotels and pens!ons.
I dec!de to reach the shore v!a the Çatlıdıkapı pass to see Boukoleon Palace one more t!me. Th!s gateway, constructed along w!th the ramparts of the H!stor!cal Pen!nsula !n the era of Theodos!us II (AD 408-450), cracked !n an earthquake !n 1532; however, as !t d!dn’t collapse, !t became known as Çatlıdıkapı (Cracked Gate). It !s sa!d to be one of the three !mportant gateways from Constant!nople to the Marmara Sea. From here, I head to Kennedy Avenue and to Boukoleon Palace. I have v!s!ted the nearly 300 meters of ru!ns before, but there !s no way to enter now as the area has been fenced off; I am content to look from afar.
Wh!le enter!ng the Çatlıdıkapı Soc!al Fac!l!t!es, located on the shore and belong!ng to the Fat!h Mun!c!pal!ty, I turn around and look at L!ttle Hag!a Soph!a. If you don’t count the Avrasya Tunnel, wh!ch connects Europe to As!a under the Bosphorus, start!ng at the border of the L!ttle Hag!a Soph!a ne!ghborhood, th!s v!ew has hardly changed !n 40 years. Let’s hope !t stays th!s way.