So one of the first "sights" for us to see at the outer gate of the Palace compounds were the viewcard and souvenir vendors, who were even more predominant than the soldiers that watched the gates.
Once inside the first (outer) area of Topkapi (that dot in the i makes me crazy, but I can't seem to find the code for the undotted i), Erkan, our guide, explained to us all about this church, and that it was the site for the First Council of Constantinople, where and when the leading heads of the church agreed on the Nicaean Credo, the text of which we still sing with the choir whenever we sing a Mass in Latin, but I would have needed to show you my poor memory of what all Erkantold us in the course of the week, and I would have had to admit that I no longer remembered the name of this "building" (I should say, for today it is no longer neither church nor mosque but a museum), had I not talked to "my reader" on the phone and she told me it most likely was "Hagia Irene" (she said "Irenenkirche" in German), spelt "Hagia Eirene", too, so that I could then look up some information on it.
Hagia Eirene (Basilica of Holy Peace, Turkish: Aya Irini Kilisesi) stands on what is thought to be the oldest place of Christian worship in Istanbul. Today it is located within the Topkapi Palace complex, close to the Hagia Sophia.
Once inside the first (outer) area of Topkapi (that dot in the i makes me crazy, but I can't seem to find the code for the undotted i), Erkan, our guide, explained to us all about this church, and that it was the site for the First Council of Constantinople, where and when the leading heads of the church agreed on the Nicaean Credo, the text of which we still sing with the choir whenever we sing a Mass in Latin, but I would have needed to show you my poor memory of what all Erkantold us in the course of the week, and I would have had to admit that I no longer remembered the name of this "building" (I should say, for today it is no longer neither church nor mosque but a museum), had I not talked to "my reader" on the phone and she told me it most likely was "Hagia Irene" (she said "Irenenkirche" in German), spelt "Hagia Eirene", too, so that I could then look up some information on it.
Hagia Eirene (Basilica of Holy Peace, Turkish: Aya Irini Kilisesi) stands on what is thought to be the oldest place of Christian worship in Istanbul. Today it is located within the Topkapi Palace complex, close to the Hagia Sophia.
(Source: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-eirene.htm )
Hagia Irene or Hagia Eirene (Greek: Αγία Ειρήνη "Holy Peace", Turkish: Aya İrini) is a former Eastern Orthodox church located in the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. It is open as a museum every day except Monday, but requires special permission for admission.
The building reputedly stands on the site of a pre-Christian temple. It ranks, in fact, as the first church built in Constantinople. Roman emperor Constantine I commissioned the Hagia Irene church in the 4th century. From may to july 381 the First Council of Constantinople took place in the church. It was burned down during the Nike revolt in 532. Emperor Justinian I had the church restored in 548. It served as the church of the Patriarchate before Hagia Sophia was completed in 537.
Hagia Irene or Hagia Eirene (Greek: Αγία Ειρήνη "Holy Peace", Turkish: Aya İrini) is a former Eastern Orthodox church located in the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. It is open as a museum every day except Monday, but requires special permission for admission.
The building reputedly stands on the site of a pre-Christian temple. It ranks, in fact, as the first church built in Constantinople. Roman emperor Constantine I commissioned the Hagia Irene church in the 4th century. From may to july 381 the First Council of Constantinople took place in the church. It was burned down during the Nike revolt in 532. Emperor Justinian I had the church restored in 548. It served as the church of the Patriarchate before Hagia Sophia was completed in 537.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Irene )
THANK YOU, DEAR READER, for your help!!! =D
Photography was strictly forbidden in most of the exhibitions of jewellery and other things, of course, so we spent quite some time on that balcony overlooking Bosporus, but I'll give those views an installment of its own, much rather than following real life chronology, and will show some of the photos I took while walking back to the meeting point now.
So - on to the views across Bosporus from the balcony of the palace now.
