Shadirvan Outside the Hagia Sophia
While I probably would have wanted to linger a little more at the Hagia Sophia, there were announcements that the mosque is closed for visits because there would be prayer going on. After the Ottoman Empire ended, the Hagia Sophia mosque was turned into as museum. This is probably in keeping with the non-secularism of the new republic. However, only recently, it was converted back into a mosque and thus worshiping can be done here as well as the call to prayer. While I haven’t been here previously, some research seems to say that it used to be a little different. The marble floor was exposed and women can go in without any head cover.
A Fountain for Ritual Cleansing at the Hagia Sophia
I think that since it was converted into a mosque, you would have to at least treat it like one. So that is what I see now. As I make my way outside, I passed by what was another Shadirvan or fountain used for ablutions. It was a little further out of the Hagia Sophia and you would have missed it if you came from the direction of the Blue Mosque. This shadirvan was constructed in the year 1740. The shadirvan here is much larger than the one at the Blue mosque. The Hagia Sophia didn’t have a dedicated area to do their ritual cleansing so people would have to do it here. I understand that there are specific steps when performing this and I was just observing people doing this prior to entering the mosque.
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