Nathan's Insights

Tuesday 06 June 2023
Highlights: Exploring the Hagia Sophia, The Grand Bazaar

My last full day visiting tourist locations before the long journey home had me keen to make the most of today even if my body and mind was drifting back to Melbourne. So after another nice and filling buffet breakfast I set off to explore.

Today’s major event was a visit to the Hagia Sophia, which is formally the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. The Hagia Sophia was built in 537 AD and an Orthodox church. This changed which the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) 1453 when it became a Mosque.

From 1935 it became a Museum, probably due to having the magnificent and purpose built Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque) right next door.

In 2020 the Türkiye Government led by the policy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rescinded the 1935 decision to covert from a Mosque to a Museum and therefore changed back to a Mosque again. The few Christian symbols left in the now Mosque have mostly been covered up but will not be removed.

This is an amazing and beautiful structure well worth a visit. Entry is free as this is a working mosque.

It took about 30 minutes in the line to enter. As a working mosque you must be attired correctly or entry will be denied.

In the afternoon I went back to the Grand Bazaar I last visited almost 30 days ago. This time I couldn’t help myself and bought some Turkish Delights. My last visit to the bazaar lead me to a number of free samples that I really liked, so a month later I committed to buying, I guess I’m a little slow LOL.

Back at the hotel I started to look into my upcoming flights, my options for the 13 hour transit in Singapore, and I started thinking about what to pack in my checked luggage and what goes into carry-on. This trip seemed massive when I boarded my first flight on Saturday 29 April 2023, and now it is somehow time to board my first flight back to Melbourne via Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.