Hagia Sophia - Istanbul, Turkey

Hagia Sophia is a great architectural beauty and an important monument both for Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires. Once a church, later a mosque, and now a museum at the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sophia has always been the precious of its time.

The mystical city Istanbul hosted many civilizations since centuries, of which Byzantium and Ottoman Empires were both the most famous ones. The city today carries the characteristics of these two different cultures and surely Hagia Sophia is a perfect synthesis where one can observe both Ottoman and Byzantium effects under one great dome.

Mosque

The prophet of God in Muslim religion, Muhammad, had prophesied that the first Muslim to pray in Hagia Sophia would go to paradise. Since then, it was a great ambition for Muslim leaders to get Hagia Sophia.

On 29 May 1453, The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmet II, conquered Constantinople after a 54 day siege. He directly went to the ancient Byzantine cathedral of Hagia Sophia. When he saw a man hacking the stones of the church and saying that this was a temple for infidels, Mehmet II ordered the looting to be stopped and the church to be converted into a mosque.

With the following years, Sultans added something to the building. Sultan Bayezid ordered a new minaret changing the previous one of his fathers’. In the 16th century, Suleiman the Magnificent brought two colossal candles from Hungary to be placed on both sides of the mihrab. To the end of the 16th century during the reign of Selim II, famous architect Sinan strengthened the building by adding structural supports to its exterior. He also built two minarets on the western end of the building and the mausoleum of Selim II to the southeast of the building. In 1600s, two mausoleums were added next to Selim II’s: Murad III and Mehmed III.

Two restorations were done in Hagia Sophia at the following years. In 1739, during the reign of Mahmud I, a medrese, a kitchen to distribute poor, and a library, and in 1740 a fountain for ritual ablutions were built.

Constantine Church

Known as the “Great Church” or “Magna Ecclesia” in Latin, the first church was built at the same location where there had been a pagan temple before. It was Constantius II who inaugurated Hagia Sophia on 15 February 360. From the chronicles of Socrates of Constantinople, we know that the church was built by the orders of Constantine the Great.

This first church was a wooden-roofed basilica with a nave flanked by two or four aisles, each carrying a gallery storey. It was preceded by an atrium. This church was largely burned down in 404 during riots since patriarch John Chrysostom was sent into exile by the Emperor Arcadius.

Architecture

Justinian’s Hagia Sophia is the one that stands today. It is an architectural intelligence and the first masterpiece in Byzantine architecture. It has been the largest cathedral for 1000 years until the Seville Cathedral was built.

The church has a rectangular shape, and the square vast square nave measuring 31m (102ft) is covered with a central dome that is carried on four pendentives. The arcade around the dome is unbroken with 40 arched windows to bring the light inside. Excluding the two narthexes and the large atrium, the basilica measures 70 x 75 m (229 x 245 ft) . The atrium measures 48 x 32 m (157 x 106 ft) and the total length of the construction measures 135 m (442 ft).

The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Mosque) - Istanbul, Turkey

The Blue Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmet I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmet Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction. 

The design of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour. It has 6 minarets along with 8 domes and 1 main one. At its lower levels and at every pier, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles, made at Iznik (the ancient Nicaea) in more than fifty different tulip designs. The tiles at lower levels are traditional in design, while at gallery level their design becomes flamboyant with representations of flowers, fruit and cypresses. More than 20,000 tiles were made under the supervision of the Iznik master potter Kasap Haci and Baris Efendi from Avanos (Cappadocia). 

The price to be paid for each tile was fixed by the sultan's decree, while tile prices in general increased over time. The most important element in the interior of the mosque is the mihrab, which is made of finely carved and sculptured marble, with a stalactite niche and a double inscriptive panel above it. The adjacent walls are sheathed in ceramic tiles. But the many windows around it make it look less spectacular. To the right of the mihrab is the richly decorated minber, or pulpit, where the Imam stands when he is delivering his sermon at the time of noon prayer on Fridays or on holy days. The mosque has been designed so that even when it is at its most crowded, everyone in the mosque can see and hear the Imam. I must confess, this has to be one of my favorite mosque in the world!

Bosphorus - Istanbul, Turkey

The Bosphorus, also known as the Istanbul Strait is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles strait to the southwest together form the Turkish Straits. The world's narrowest strait used for international navigation, the Bosphorus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It lies a number of neighborhoods each with a different character (possibly due to the fact that they all started as seperate fishing villages and some are still physically seperated from each other by lush woodlands), palaces of the late Ottoman period, and parks. This is quite easily one of the most scenic—yet largely overlooked by travellers—parts of Istanbul, which reaches its zenith during late spring, when the Judas trees, which are some sort of symbol of the Bosphorus and dotting the hills along the Bosphorus, are in full bloom of their deep-pink flowers that engulf both shores of the strait.

Dreamland Beach - Bali, Indonesia

Dreamland adalah sebuah pantai yang terletak di daerah bernama Pecatu, sebelah selatan Bali. Pantai ini dikelilingi oleh tebing-tebing yang menjulang tinggi dan dikelilingi batu karang lumayan besar di sekitar pantai. Lokasi pantai ini berada dalam kompleks Bali Pecatu Graha, sekitar 30menit dari Pantai Kuta. 



Pasir putih dan celah karang yang terjal menjadi pemandangan yang emang cantik banget. Berpasir putih bersih dan di bawahnya terdapat dinding karang curam membuat suasana menjadi relax and serene untuk menikmati matahari tenggelam atau sekedar liat surfer pada atraksi. Ombaknya yang tinggi dan besar banyak dinikmati oleh para penggemar surfing.

Menurut gw pantai ini worth untuk dikunjungi. Pasir nya masih putih dan air nya masih turquoise. So, memang cantik banget. Gw juga sempet body surf disini, arus nya lumayan so untuk yang pada suka surf, especially yang pemula, bisa dicoba disini. Hati-hati tapi ya, cus ada batu-batu dan karang-karang. Gw kesini exactly seminggu yang lalu, tanggal 12 July 2012. Gw kesini with my hubby for our summer holidays. We rented a car dan telusuri pantai-pantai Bali dengan GPS. And trust me, if you think Kuta, Sanur or Nusa Dua's beach udah keren, this place will change the way you think! 

Ich möchte an die Materie

Ich möchte in diesem Leben nichts. Nicht nur als Ehefrau, Tochter oder Lehrer. Aber etwas mehr. Ich habe immer geträumt, dass ich etwas Großes sein. Eine Person, die andere ändern kann. Das lässt sich neu zu formen den Geist der Schwachen. Heben Sie das Leben des unglücklichen. Es ist nicht, dass im nicht dankbar, mit dem Leben, die mir präsentiert wird, aber ich glaube, ich habe nicht das Beste getan. 


Ich träume davon, jemanden groß, ein Arzt einmal sein. Obwohl die Dinge nicht kam heraus wie das, was ich mir vorstellte, ist ein Lehrer nicht so schlimm. Ich habe gelehrt, und ermutigen wenige, aber wenige ist nicht genug. Ich fühle mich seiner Meinung nach zu langsam. Ich möchte etwas mehr zu erreichen. Etwas, das mich fühlen Materie kann. Liegt an mir? Wenn wir diese qustion bitten, den Menschen die wir lieben, werden sie immer sagen: "Ja, du natürlich egal." Können wir unsere Welt in einem insant? Das ist fast unmöglich, aber ich glaube, dass der Tag nicht mehr so weit.


Um die Sache gleich zu machen, müssen wir fördern und uns daran erinnern, dass es wichtig ist. Dass das, was wir wollen zu drängen, dass eine Angelegenheit geworden, die Materie. Ich weiß, dass dies nur eine Phase, oder vielleicht auch nur ein Moment des Gefühls sein. Ein Gefühl, das kommen und gehen, genauso wie Hunger. Aber woher wissen wir das Gefühl überwinden, "Materie"? Wie durch Hunger, wir rufen Sie einfach die Förderleitung und das Essen kommt. Wie sieht es mit Gefühl eine Rolle?

Nat's Instagram

The Basilica Cistern - Istanbul, Turkey

The Basilica Cistern, also known as the "Sunken Palace" or "Yerebatan sarayi" in turkish, was constructed by Justinian in 532 to supply water to the Byzantine Palace primarily. Basilica cistern or better known as Yerebatan sarayi is a very authentic place and a must see in Istanbul. I've seen it and it is one of the most amazing places I've been to.

The history to this beautiful place is that the name of this subterranean structure derives from a large public square on the First Hill of Constantinople, the Stoa Basilica, beneath which it was originally constructed. Before being converted to a cistern, a great Basilica stood in its place, built between the 3rd and 4th centuries during the Early Roman Age as a commercial, legal and artistic centre. The basilica was reconstructed by Ilius after a fire in 476.

Ancient texts indicated that the basilica contained gardens, surrounded by a colonnade and facing the Church of Hagia Sophia. According to ancient historians, Emperor Constantine built a structure that was later rebuilt and enlarged by Emperor Justinian after the Nika riots of 532, which devastated the city. Historical texts claim that 7,000 slaves were involved in the construction of the cistern. 

Today it has been completely renovated. Water still drips melancholically through the ceiling, and the brick-domed ceiling echoes classical music. This historical construction has to be one of my favourite places I've been to!