We had read about the frescoes in this museum and that they shouldn't be missed.Since it is located in the little-visited western districts of the city, it took us quite a bit of work to get there.
We unfortunately got there on the late side but had read that would be open. Well, this was not the case and along with other tourists we got turned away at the entrance.
We decided to stick around and we had a drink in a restaurant across from it. A while later we went back to talk to the guards to confirm that it would be opened the following day (our idea had been to leave the following morning but we were willing to be flexible).
In french he asked if we spoke the language and we said "mais, oui!", he proceeded to say "seat down by the rock and I'll call you in a few minutes". We were confused but did as instructed.
After making sure nobody was walking by, he signaled with his head that we could go in (through the back door). We had the whole place to ourselves!
This church-turned-mosque-turned-museum was built in the late 11Th century. All of the interior dates from 1312 and depicts biblical scenes.
Some of the most wonderful mosaics we saw are of Theodore Metochites (founder of the building) offering the church to Christ, the dome with Jesus and his ancestors, the dome of Mary and child Jesus surrounded by her ancestors and the one of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. The infant being held by Jesus is actually Mary's soul (a picture of this mosaic is displayed at the top of this blog entry).
There are also several frescoes of amazing quality that depict scenes of the Old Testament.
We know the money we paid (full entrance fee) went to the pockets of the ones that allowed us in instead of to the restoration of such place. Normally we wouldn't allow such behavior but to have the place to ourselves and enjoy the history of the site was enough for us to overlook the situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment