Tag: Travel

Our day began at the Hippodrome, or what used to be the Hippodrome.  After Constantine the Great’s renovation in the 4th century, the Hippodrome could hold as many as 100,000 horse race enthusiasts. It was Churchill Downs on steroids.

Today, as you can see from my picture, there is little left of the Hippodrome, except for two monuments, one a 10th century column dedicated to Emperor Constantine (VII) Porphyrogenitus and the other an Egyptian obelisk on a marble base honoring Emperor Theodosius, which was erected in 390 A.D. (Theodosius, you may or man not know, put an end to what was left of paganism in the empire).

The Turks did to the Hippodrome what Theodosius did to paganism.  The Hippodrome began disappearing stone-by-stone after Constantinople fell to the Turks.

Later in the morning, we arrived at Hagia Sophia.  Hagia Sophia was completed by Justinian in 537 A.D. and for 800 years was the most beautiful and famous church in the world. When Hagia Sophia was completed, Justinian proclaimed, “Solomon, I have surpassed thee!”

After sacking Constantinople, the Turks converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque, which explains the round billboards in my picture extolling, in Arabic, the virtues of Allah and Muhammad.  I’m guessing Justinian never imagined his church would become a mosque.  In fact, I’m confident he didn’t since, in 537 A.D., Islam didn’t exist.

Hagia Sophia was not the only church converted to a mosque in Constantinople by the Turks. Hagia Eirene and the church of SS Sergius and Bacchus met the same fate.  In fact, nearly every church in Constantinople was converted to a mosque.  The once great city, God’s earthly crown jewel, became a Muslim city.

As a Christian, it’s natural to contemplate these events and ask God, “Why?”  As a kingdom-believing Christian, convinced the kingdom of God is destined to grow and transform the earth, the loss of Constantinople cannot help but appear to be a major setback.

However, when considering the fleeting nature of buildings, cities and civilizations, even those dedicated to God, it’s important to remember that while the kingdom of God is destined the transform the earth, it also transcends it.  God did not choose to place His Holy Spirit in churches–not even the most beautiful one in the world–but in believers. While King Jesus purposes to transform cities and cultures, neither He nor his Kingdom is defined by them.  Civilizations come and go, but the kingdom of God endures (Daniel 2:42) and continues to expand. GS

Thanks to the genius of modern of travel, we boarded a plane in the USA and after 18 hours of travel, including two stops to change planes we were arriving halfway around the world in Istanbul, Turkey f/k/a Constantinople f/k/a Byzantium. And as amazing at it would have been to Constantine, Theodosius or Justinian to know the future would provide such speedy travel, I suspect 1,000 years from now our descendants will look back and consider primitive the notion of cramming 300 people into a tin can with wings and adding thrust to move it through the air from place to another.

On the drive from the Istanbul airport to our hotel we got our first up-close look at Istanbul. I’d seen pictures on the Internet before arriving and had a pretty good idea of what to expect, but I was still surprised it wasn’t more advanced like modern cities in the West. Granted, we drove through the old city and haven’t spent much time in the modern part, but still I thought I’d find a more prosperous-looking 21st century city than the one we saw.

Perhaps my surprise is a result of the contrast between modern Istanbul and the awe-inspiring picture of Constantinople various authors have helped paint in my mind, a city that caused visitors a thousand years ago to say things like,“We knew not whether we were on heaven or earth” and “…on earth there is no such splendor or such beauty,” and “we only know that God dwells there among men.” When it was the heart of Christendom, a city devoted to King Jesus, a city whose rulers were sometimes criticized for loving theology more than governing, it was a city of unimaginable prosperity, learning and cultural leadership. But we are just on our first day, and we will see more tomorrow.

Today was a day to get acclimated, get some rest and get ready for our first day of touring tomorrow. We did have a nice dinner while enjoying a view of the Bosphorus (see picture shot with my iPhone 4), probably not too far from where Darius I had a pontoon bridge constructed and crossed 2,500 years and crossed in pursuit of the Scythians.  Darius’s son, Xerxes (see Esther), would later repeat the feat in 480 B.C. much further south at Hellespont, beyond the Sea of Marmara, where he crossed on his way to fight Leonidas and the 300 at Thermopylae.  These waters, separating the East from the West,  have been a pivotal venue in history.

Until tomorrow…  GS