Special spaces
I really don’t have a “bucket list,” though there are a few places I have always wanted to see not in a photograph but with my own eyes. One of those is Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Linda and I got to tour it during our “Second Missionary Journeys of Paul” cruise last fall. (No, Paul never got there, but when the cruise starts at Istanbul, you go to Hagia Sophia.) It was our first day off the plane, and I was feeling a little jet-lagged, but it was still a wonder-filled experience.
Turns out, it’s a good thing we saw it when we did. Turkish authorities have now severely restricted visits by foreign tourists.
Two reasons are normally cited: “overtourism,” and the desire of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to show off for his constituency.
“Overtourism,” I get. To get inside, we had to stand in a long line (I didn’t time it, but the wait was at least an hourlong wait), and once we got inside, it was wall-to-wall people. The noise of voices and the constant jostling of people all around us made it difficult to fully appreciate the experience.
Still, it’s such an awesome place that just being there was enough for me.
Some background: Hagia Sophia began its life around 325 AD/CE as a Christian church built over a pagan temple. Over the years, earthquakes or fire destroyed the church several times. Finally, in 537, a magnificent Byzantine structure was built that has lasted to this day, though repaired and restored several times.
When Constantinople passed from Christian to Moslem control, the church became a mosque, and several minarets were added. When the Turkish government took a secular turn in the 1930s, it became a museum. In 2020, Erdoğan made it a mosque again, to considerable international uproar. Moslem symbols now conceal many Christian symbols, but until early this year the mosque was still open to all.
As of Jan. 15, Erdoğan tightened control over it. Foreigners now have to pay 35 euros ($37.80 at the current rate) just to get in, and they can’t enter the main area where you get the best interior views of the structure.
That’s a shame for tourists, though I imagine Muslim worshippers appreciate being able to pray in a space that’s no longer crowded with gawking visitors.
Some spaces are just special. They have an essential holiness about them. Hagia Sophia is one of those spaces. It’s a “thin space” in the Celtic vernacular – a place where heaven and earth meet and are so close together that you can feel vibrations from the other side.
Yes, it’s a magnificent structure. But it’s more than that. It’s a place where you can hear God whispering, “I am here” – and more: “I’m glad you’re here, too.”
I am sorry that more outsiders will not have the experience of standing in the heart of the Hagia Sophia and feeling God’s presence. It’s the result of a shortsighted policy pushed by an authoritarian leader.
Usually, buildings don’t “do it” for me. The Blue Mosque near Hagia Sophia is also an amazing place. Also amazing were many of the churches and other holy sites we visited last fall in Greece – especially the chapel of the Varlaam monastery built atop a sandstone monolith at Meteora.
But I generally prefer the outdoors for spiritual experiences: Spence Field off Thunderhead Mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, or Lake Isabelle in the Indian Peaks Wilderness of Colorado.
Is there a special place where you can feel God speaking to you? If you don’t have one, maybe finding it should be on your “bucket list.”