Settlements have thrived since the 7th century BC where Europe, Istanbul/Constantinople, meets Asia, Uskudar/Scutari...
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...by the Golden Horn, Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara, here from Topkapi Palace/Topkapi Sarayi on Seraglio Point.
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Inside the immense Hagia Sofia / Aya Sofya / Santa Sophia / Church of Divine Wisdom in Istanbul...
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...are astonishing uncovered mosaics: from the eleventh century, of Christ Pantocrator (All-Powerful)...
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...giving blessing and holding a bible between King Constantine IX Monomachus and Empress Zoe, both making offerings...
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...from 1118AD, the Virgin and Child, with the Byzantine Emperor...
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...John II Comnneus and his wife Empress Irene receiving blessings from the baby Jesus...
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...dating from 944 and rediscovered in 1849, with circular Mother of God monikers is this beautiful Virgin and Child ...
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...flanked by Constantine I, offering her the city of Constantinople, and Justinian I, offering the Hagia Sophia...
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...the outstanding Deësis Mosaic dating from the 1200s (the Restoration of Constantinople) was uncovered...
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...over five painstaking years, after the first glimpses under the plaster in 1934...
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...this remarkable Byzantine masterpiece was restored and preserved...
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...to display the original craftsmanship and gentle, compassionate Palaeologan Christ once more...
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...as Our Saviour holds the Gospels between the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist.
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Hagia Sofia, Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, Constantinople, in an early engraving...
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...Aya Sofya around 1885, by Pascal Sebah in Mosquée de Sainte Sophie, it remained the world's largest cathedral for 1000 years...
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...survivor of fire and several earthquakes, it is larger than any previous domed building, depicted here in an early hand tinted print...
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...a church until 1453, a mosque following the Ottoman Turk conquest until 1935, when first Turkish President, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, restored the building as a museum...
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...Hagia Sophia was built by Emperor Justinian in 536. The very first Constantinople church was constructed by first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine/Constantinus, in 347AD.
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