A Bastille Gone

The Sea of Maramara of Istanbul divides the Asian plateau from Europe. The roman king, Flavius Valerius Constantinus or ‘Constantine the Great’ was the first of the Roman Caesar who converted his faith and adopted Christianity. His mother, Helena, [in]famous for the spread of Christianity worldwide after she discovered a crucifix from a cave while on her Pilgrimage Tour to Bethlehem. [Today, the Church of Nativity stands at the place.]

Anyways, Constantinus commissioned to create Sophia Hagia—a Greek Orthodox church near the small Pontic shore surrounded by the waves of Bosporus like a maiden’s necklace. The Orthodox Church stands on the place where once lies a temple dedicated to Aphrodite. According to a Greek chronicler, ‘the gilded roof of the church flushed with sunlight such brilliance that it seemed gold flows from the dome in a molten stream’. Precious metals were carved into its four arched joists. A silver Holy table with its border glided in gold was put as the Altar. Sophia Hagia was a sanctuary to look for, but in 532, the construction gutted in a fire.

The last Roman king, Justinian, decided to reconstruct the church—more elaborately, and more extravagantly. On the day of the inauguration, Justinian riding on his state chariot driven by four horses came for the ceremony. He sacrificed nearly thousands of oxen, six-thousand sheep, hundreds of stags and innumerable of birds of different species before inaugurating. Some thirty-thousand people attend the ceremony. A hearty meal was laid for the poor and needy.

Extending his arms towards heaven, Justinian cried, “Glory to God, who has deemed me worthy of fulfilling such a work. O, Solomon! I have surpassed thee…” With time, it all waned-off.

Sultan Mohammed II, after he triumphed over Constantipole in 1453 visit the monument. He dismounts from his horse, bent down, scooped a handful of dust and pour over his turbaned head before entering the church. A few priests appear from the secret passage behind the screen, kneeled before the Sultan seeking mercy. The Sultan [pretending to be benevolent] set the parishioners free as he walks through the hallway in his high military boots.

The cavernous interior was mixed with blue tiles and the arched hallway to amalgam the Turkic and Roman architecture. The polished Anatolian marble floor compliments to the wooden doors or the walls made of Syrian bricks and other parts of Eastern Africa. With his eyes fixated to the wooden ceiling extravagantly lighted with sunlight, the Sultan ordered, “…the church be converted into a mosque’. An ulema, climb into the ambo and call-out the azaan.

The 269-feet church, now converted, to a mosque by king’s order. Haga Sophia was stripped off all its Christian ornamentation. Massive circular discs with Quranic verses inscribed affixed to its pillars. The pulpit was taken down. A sultan’s box was placed at the centre. A mihrab facing Mecca was installed to one part of the church. On Friday of the first week, the people of the city were called for prayer. No bell was rung. A muezzin cried aloud the glory of Allah and Muhammad—the azaan.

But, why am I narrating all these in 2020? Erdogan, President of Turkey, a few days back signed a decree annulling the status of Sophia Hagia as a museum and revert it to a mosque. Defending his decision, the President stressed that the country had exercised its sovereign right. The Pope from the Vatican along with others from the Papal organisations, express their condemnation, angst, and grief. But, the 1500-year-old Christian bastille is now gone.

And, then some who will cry, ‘Islamophobia’. Sigh!