Gateway to Heaven
The Imperial Door in
Constantinople's Hagia
Sophia (Ayasofya) was
the portal into the great church's
vast main space covered by its soaring
dome, the architectural
marvel of its age.
As visitors—even the Byzantine emperor himself—peered
upward, a glorious mosaic of Christ
as Ruler of All (Pantocrator)
peered down beneficently upon
them from above the Imperial
Door.
During your tour of Istanbul,
hesitate here for a moment and
imagine the elaborate gilded
processions that passed
through this huge portal in Byzantine
times.
...Of the moment in 537 when Justinian
the Great stood here,
gazed at his creation and exclaimed, "Oh
Solomon! I have outdone thee!"
...Of the moment in May of 1453
when Sultan Mehmet the
Conqueror came to this
door, fresh from his conquest
of the city, rubbed ashes on
his head in humility, and ordered
that the great church be cleansed,
renewed, and dedicated as a mosque. |
