Our first visit this morning was to Hagia Sogia Museum aka Saint Sophia. "Sophia" is the Turkish word for "wisdom". This was originally a Christian basilica later converted to a mosque. Many Christians objected to these conversions but had they not been converted they would now be in ruins. This is the first domed basilica in the world and at one time was the highest dome on earth. Impressed??? It was built in 5 years and finished about 537AD ( note this is only a 3 digit number)
From there we went to a carpet outlet and had a demonstration of carpets. We were served a beverage and as you may have seen in the movies, we sat around the room as different carpets were spread before us and all were explained. All were hand made and some contained millions of hand tied knots. After the demonstration the sales staff were turned loose on us and some carpets were purchased ( I just hit a wrong button thus the underline and don't have time to find the same button again to undo it.) Note the final photo of a wall hanging aprox 30"x40" is pure silk and the asking price is a mere US$35,000 . After shaking the carper sellers we went to lunch and then the bazaar. We all survived !
Next stop was the Dulmabahce Palace. No photos allowed so since I always behave you will just have to imagine the living quarters and meeting rooms of the home of the Sultans. FANTASTIC!!! ( we had passed this palace during our boat trip yesterday so you may recognize it)
Tonight some very dedicated Rotarians go to a Rotary meeting and the others to a dinner.
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