Yasin Karabacak is a licensed professional tour guide.
From the time of the Oghuz khans down to the era of the Ottoman sultans, Turkish rulers have used written symbols and signs to represent themselves, and these are referred to as “tughra”s. In the early years of Ottoman rule, tughras represented the Arabic pronunciation of the name of the sultan and his father. In …
After Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum in 1934, archaeological work was carried out in the area around the building. In 1935, excavations led by German archaeologist Alfons Maria Schneider resulted in the unearthing of the remains of the monumental entrance to the second church structure, the Theodosian Hagia Sophia. The remains of the …
How many mosques do you think remain standing today in Athens, which was under Ottoman rule for about 350 years? The answer is only two and they are not open to worship. There are also remains of one more mosque that is near the other two. (Yaklaşık 350 yıl kadar Osmanlı hakimiyetinde kalan Atina’da bugün …
The materials used in the building of Hagia Sophia were carefully selected to reflect the glory of Emperor Justinian and the empire he ruled. One of the most striking features of the building is that it includes a range of columns of multiple colours, columns that were gathered from around the world. What makes the …
The Megale Ecclesia (Great Church), believed to be the first church structure at the location of Hagia Sophia, was a product of the reign of Emperor Constantius II. Due to the friction between Archbishop Ioannes Chrysostomos and Aelia Eudoxia, the young wife of Emperor Arcadius, the life of this first structure was cut short. (Geçmişte …
Two actions by the Roman Emperor Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, I could be said to have changed the course of history. The first of these was Constantine’s and Licinius’ introduction of freedom of religion in 313 through the Edict of Milan, from which Christians benefited greatly. The second was the choice …