I have ceased all commentary on anything other than Hagia Sophia. I will be counting the days till the dark day which Turkey has scheduled for July 24.
It was said that the Fall of Constantinople was God’s punishment for the apostasy of the Greeks when they signed the false union of East and Western Christians at the Council of Florence in 1439. Today, there are opinions emanating from a variety of sources suggesting that the impending conversion of Hagia Sophia is God’s punishment for the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in fomenting the schism of the Churches in Ukraine. Whether this is true or not is impossible to say. One prominent Bishop within the Church of Greece believes this is the case while some Russian and Ukrainian Bishops deny that this is so.
The Knights of the Fourth Crusade desecrated Hagia Sophia long before the Ottoman Turks. After Constantinople was invaded and occupied by the Crusaders the Churches, palaces, and libraries of Constantinople were sacked. Hagia Sophia was not spared as it was defiled in unspeakable ways by western Christians. Other than robbing the treasures in the Church, the Latins also brought a prostitute into the Great Cathedral who sat on the Patriarch’s throne.
Hagia Sophia is also the subject of myths and legends. One legend has it that during the building of the Great Church in the sixth century, the Archangel Michael came down from heaven and asked a boy where the builders were. The boy responded and said they were eating lunch. The Archangel told the boy to go and call them for this Church needed to be built very quickly.
After the Fall of Constantinople, a legend was told about the mysterious priest in Hagia Sophia. It was said that he disappeared inside the Church so that the Turks would not defile the holy gifts. According to the legend, when Hagia Sophia becomes a Church once more the priest will reemerge to complete the liturgy.
Another story is told during the centuries of the Ottoman Empire. It was said that there was a locked door high up in the Great Church. An Englishman in Constantinople was said to have been hired by the Turks to open the door. Somewhat frightened by what might be behind the door, the Englishman advised the Sultan to leave the door alone. The Sultan is said to have complied with this advice.
In 2016, the Turkish government permitted an Islamic cleric to read Koranic prayers in Hagia Sophia. During that summer, an attempted Coup against the Turkish President ensued. The disturbance of Hagia Sophia was put to rest…………….until now!
One reply on “Hagia Sophia Diaries 2 Facts and legends of Hagia Sophia”
The Byzantine Empire and the Orthodox Church which were enjoined lasted for 1100 years. They kept the lights of knowledge burning during the Dark Ages and helped foster the Renaissance at the end of that. But today, most Americans-and sadly many Hellenes-either never heard of it or have been so poorly schooled in it’s history that topics like Hagia Sophia mean nothing to them. A few folks-like you Ted-have taken it upon themselves to study the history and develop a passion to fight for these ideals. The question I have is so few are engaged or even interested and what can we do as Orthodox Christians to promote more engagement in the masses? The public school system in America is a disaster as far as teaching western history, but then it was never very good as far as Byzantine History. Ancient Greece and Rome got the emphasis Pre-WW2, but even that has been curtailed today. Most young people today get their knowledge of ancient Greece from watching ‘300’ at the theater or old episodes of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’, that’s it. Byzantium? What is that? There is our challenge.