Christian Art in Turkey

Aya Sofia, or Hagia Sofia was built by Justinian and contains masterpieces of Byzantine religious art. Many re-emerged after Turkey became a secular nation under Ataturk.

Sometimes magnificent works of art are preserved by a quirk of fate. An Ottoman pasha had the mosaics of St. Saviour whitewashed, and they were only recovered in the 20th century. These mosaics and frescoes of the Chorae

While Byzantium's history was fresh in our minds, we took an airplane from Istanbul to the Trabzon, where the last Byzantine emperors ruled. Today, you'll require a healthy imagination to visualize its glory while wandering the current industrial and grimy port of Trabzon, with its Russian flea markets, prostitutes and dilapidated buildings. . Several parks and mosques are worth a visit, especially the Aya Sophia, just out of town, built on a bluff overlooking the Black Sea.  The Sumela Monastery is a short drive south of the city and well worth a visit