hagia sophia | istanbul travel deck, card no. 3
Place: Hagia Sophia
Card No. 3: Istanbul Travel Deck
if you visit one touristy place in Istanbul, it should be the Hagia Sophia — completed in 537 AD — once a Byzantine church, then a mosque, then a museum, then converted back into a mosque, again, in the last few years.
when I first visited on my first trip to Istanbul, it was the tail end of the pandemic. I went early in the morning, played Byzantine chanting on my noise cancelling headphone, and tried to summon the sublime feeling of a sacred space. these days, unfortunately, it’s crowded as hell and impossible to do. when I have close friends visit me, I still take them here.
Notes:
I started this card by drawing the exterior of the Hagia Sophia (at the bottom of the card), then I wanted to capture the experience of being inside, and looking up at the ornate, exquisite domes. like gothic cathedrals, the Hagia Sophia draws your focus towards the heavens, afterall. I was so inspired and drawn into the gilded geometric patterns of the domes - that I think I’ll bookmark it, in my mind, to explore as visual inspiration.