Visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Photo by:  Nikolaos Manginas

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople will be arriving today in New Orleans.  He will be visiting several places in the U.S. including Louisiana, New York, Georgia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. as well as being part of a symposium on the Mississippi River discussing ways to improve the environment.  You can follow his itinerary here.

My husband and I were very blessed to get to meet him on a pilgrimage in 2007.  He talked a little about his efforts to help the environment and the importance of being stewards of God's Creation.  I'm sure his schedule was extremely full and we all knew how fortunate we were to receive 30 minutes of his time at the patriarchate.  (There were about 25 of us that went on this pilgrimage through the Youth Department of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.)

Here's a glimpse of our trip:

Locally, the patriarchate is referred to as the Fener or Phanar.  Our bus driver dropped us off on a main street where our first hint that we were close to the patriarchate was a small shop selling icons.  This sticks out quickly in Istanbul where the population is dominantly Muslim.  We start to walk up a side street towards a walled in courtyard.  Some of the locals are trying to sell knick knacks to us while others are staring at us.  We're not quite sure if it's a curious stare or an intruding stare.  As we approarch the stairs to walk up to the door of the courtyard, we notice a door in front of us that has been permanently locked. 

We quickly learn that one of the past patriarchs, Patriarch Gregory V, was hung in front of this door in 1821 by the Turks.  The door is welded shut to this day in memory of the patriarch.  

Here is the door from inside the courtyard -

There are many buildings situated close together once you enter the courtyard.  Nothing as glamorous or large as something you find at the Vatican but there is a humble beauty and peace washing over you as you glance around. 

This is the exterior of the Basilica of St. George -

Inside, we venerated the relics of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian as well as the relics of other saints.

These are the relics of St. John Chrysostom on the left and St. Gregory the Theologian on the right.

Our group was escorted into a large room where we waited to see Patriarch Bartholomew.  We watched and listened as he sat and talked to us.  Afterwards, we were permitted to look around in a couple of rooms before walking out to the courtyard again.

During the pilgrimage we visited many churches and historical spots.  Among one of our favorites was Agia Sophia (the Chuch of Holy Wisdom) in Constantinople.  The first time you visit Agia Sophia, you are just overwhelmed with the immensity of the church.  I stood there and imagined what it would have been like to attend a Divine Liturgy here hundreds of years ago.  Clergy numbered in the hundreds during the church's prime.  It must have been absolutely amazing!

    Walking up to Agia Sophia

     A glimpse of the narthex

Nave of the Church  (There was construction on the dome.)

This is the upper level of the church.  

Today, you can see the impact the crusades, Muslims, and tourists have had on the church over the centuries.  In this picture, you can see the painted walls with the ornate byzantine style decorations done by the Muslims.  Muslims do not believe in having pictures in places of worship and covered all the icons in Agia Sophia with plaster and paint when they converted the church into a mosque.  The mosque has since been turned into a museum and some of the icons have been uncovered for the tourists to see.  This icon in particular has been damaged primarily by tourists.  Now...you can't get up close and touch it because there is a rope "wall" in front of the icons.  But previously, tourists would take a mosaic as a souvenir of their visit to Agia Sophia.

This is an example of the damage the crusaders left on Agia Sophia. The cross was plucked from the walls of the church when the crusaders came through and plundered Constantinople in the 1200's.

Here's an example of the impact the Muslims had on the church.  This small portion of wall has had the plaster removed and you can catch a glimpse of the gold tile mosaics under the plaster presumably with icons from the church's days as an Orthodox church instead of a mosque or museum.


Some of the damage and wear & tear of the church is probably from earthquakes as well since some of the other churches we visited in Constantinople had earthquake damage - especially on the ceilings and domes.


Overall, Agia Sophia was a place of awe and beauty.  I still can't shake the feeling and impression I was left with on my first visit there.