[1]Küçük Aya Sofya in winter, 1990
In the 1990s, this was a peaceful backwater where the caretaker’s rather large family used to play. Now it’s more in the mainstream of sights and tour groups visit. So it should be because this is an unusual and lovely building (41.0029644,28.9726008).
[2]The caretaker's family
The architects must have had some odd conditions to deal with. Perhaps because it had to be sandwiched between existing buildings, the shape of the church is unique. It is the shape of an irregular octagon inserted crookedly into a not-quite-rectangle. The elongated dome has some similar aspects to that of the larger Aya Sofya but it’s a bit of an engineering triumph to make such a lovely thing on the unpromising structure. It seems to have been built at some time around 530. The monograms of Justinian and Theodora can still be seen on the capitals of some columns.
[3]Monogrammed column capital
This is a unique place. For some reason, it is here that I feel most as if I am in a Byzantine church. The conversion to a mosque has done little to change the character of the building. Overall, there is an impression of austerity but the details are sumptuous. The decoration on the capitals seems sharper here, the upstairs galleries more intimate. Even now it is on the beaten track, it is still a lovely church.
[4]Classic Byzantine gallery
[5]Eastern side of the interior.
[6]The pump works, the pool fills. Looks like a font.
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