Hagia Sophia

Istanbul · Turkiet · Church

The priest stepped through the door with the chalice in his hands — and the door became wall. He is in there still, mid-sermon.

The most stubborn of Hagia Sophia's legends is set on the day the city fell in 1453. A priest was preaching when soldiers pushed into the church. He took up the holy chalice, went through a side door — and those who ran after him found no door at all, only smooth wall. In the telling he is still in there inside the stone, his sermon broken off mid-sentence, and the wall will open only on the day the church becomes a church again. A second legend belongs to the sweating column in the north aisle: the marble is said to have stood in the house of the Virgin and to have been damped by the tears of Christ, and Evliya Çelebi wrote that an enchanted treasure lies buried in its base. Visitors still press a thumb into its hole and turn their hand full circle. The marble is cold and damp even in the summer heat.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Hagia Sophia?

Hagia Sophia ligger i Istanbul, Turkiet.