SHORT HISTORY OF HAGIA EIRENE
After the Nika Revolt in 532, as part of his major construction project that included more than 30 churches, Justinian rebuilt the burned down Hagia Eirene in the form of a domed basilica.
Further damaged by the earthquake in 740, the Iconoclastic emperor Constantine V reconstructed it and also added the legendary Iconoclastic cross that you can see today.
Fatih Sultan Mehmed conquered Constantinople in 1453. He immediately converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque. However, Christians working in his imperial palace continued to use Hagia Eirene for a short period of time. Finally, when Topkapi Palace was expanded, they built a wall that separated it from Hagia Sophia and from people in general. Hagia Eirene remained within the palace walls and that’s why I say that it became a church for Ottoman sultans.
Try to imagine people coming to the Topkapi Palace for whatever business they had to attend to and seeing this church within the confines of the Ottoman imperial court? I’m sure that, at that time, no one would’ve mistaken this typical Byzantine structure for anything else.
It was also a powerful message by Fatih Sultan Mehmed, his way of saying that could do whatever he pleased. He converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque, but not Hagia Eirene. It was his pure caprice.
Janissaries that resided within the adjacent barracks used it as the weapons warehouse. During the Sultan Ahmed III’s reign, Hagia Eirene was an armoury.
Between 1846 and 1974, it was the Museum of Antiquities and Military Museum.
ICONOCLASTIC CROSS
The most important mosaic decoration that you can see in this church is in the apse. A rare example of the Iconoclastic art, the mosaic consists of a black cross on a golden background. Constantine V and other proponents of Iconoclasm rejected the use of images in religious art. Thus, Constantine V commissioned a decorative program with a focus on the True Cross.
That’s exactly why they didn’t decorate Hagia Eirene the way they did with Hagia Sophia. You can’t see images of Christ and Virgin, but you can see the True Cross instead.
MUSEUM WITHIN A MUSEUM
I visited Hagia Eirene in 2109 and paid 30 Turkish liras for the ticket. So, photos in this post are from that visit although, I believe, nothing has changed inside since than. As a matter of fact, everything is probably the same as it was for the past nearly 1500 years.
If you follow this official link, you will see that they now charge 500 Turkish liras should you wish to visit this Byzantine structure.
In my opinion, the entry fee is too expensive especially because, when you are there, you would also want to visit the Topkapi Palace and its Harem.
CHURCH FOR OTTOMAN SULTANS
Naturally, Ottoman sultans had no interest in this former Byzantine church. They were busy running and expanding the empire and building majestic imperial mosques all over Istanbul and other Turkish cities.
Nevertheless, Hagia Eirene remains as a curiosity. You wouldn’t be mistaken to think that it would’ve been among the first churches to become a mosque, which didn’t happen.
It’s a precious small museum within the vast Byzantine and Ottoman heritage that in the city.
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