Today proved to be easily the best day of the trip so far. Unlike our reception in London the members of the Orthodox church and the staff of the Ecumenical Patriarch have gone out of their way to greet us and make us feel welcomed. They met us at the airport with two vans to transport us to the hotel. This morning promptly at 8:00 am they waited outside the hotel for us to leave for our trip of the day. They have staff arranged to accompany us the entire time we are here.
The day started with a 40 minute van ride into Istanbul among the most unique cities in the world. Officially 12.5 million people live in Istanbul. Realistically Istanbul is home to 15 million - 98% Muslim. We boarded a ferry to take us to Holy Trinity Monastery and school. Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia. As the ferry made its way we were literally looking at Europe on one side of the straight and Asia on the other. The first stop for the ferry was the Asian side of Istanbul before proceeding on to the Islands. From the stop we looked into the ancient city of Chalcedon the location of the fourth ecumenical council in 451 where the two natures of Christ (human and divine) were hammered out and agreed upon.
A few more stops and we arrived at the island where Holy Trinity Monastery and school sit atop a beautiful hill. The steep road up the side of the mountain prohibits walking (besides, rain fell all day). We loaded into carriages three at a time. These "carriages" are direct cousin of the old west stage coach, each pulled by two horses. The horses seemed very excited to climb the hill and ran at nearly full speed throwing us around in the back like rag dolls - and that's on a paved road. I can't imagine what the old west travelers endured.
The monastery sits on the top a stunningly beautiful mountain overlooking the sea (which sea, I'm not yet sure. A classic case of I have no idea where I am). We arrived as the Orthodox Liturgy at the monastery concluded. We toured the chapel with a wonderful history lesson by one of the professors for the school. The Turkish government closed the school in 1971. More about that tomorrow with photos of the icons in the chapel. A brief tour of the school lead to a formal greeting by the Abbot of the monastery (it too is closed), and Bishop Hanson's formal greetings to him. The Abbot hosted a fantastic meal followed by a tour of the library and a ride back down the mountain. The horses seemed much more relaxed going down than they did going up - what's that about?
The ferry ride back gave a chance for conversation and a nap. Back in Istanbul we had two hours to walk the city, look into shops and watch the people.
Much more when we have a little longer break. For now - off to bed.
TO MY FRIENDS WHO ARE FOOTBALL FANS!
I am in the home of Orthodox Christianity. They love icons and have them of many saints - thus my pick. In honor of All the Saints and our Orthodox sisters and brothers - The Saints!
The stories and photos of Istanbul warmed my heart (half of which resides in that city). When you went to Halki, I bet you were crossing the Sea of Marmara. If one goes all the way to the southern shore and then drives for an hour or two, one would be in Nicaea.
ReplyDeleteHow great that you got to see Chalcedon and theological school--aspects of Turkey most travelers would not get to visit. You also seem to be experiencing that wonderful eastern Mediterranean hospitality. I hope the delegation has a great day in the city on Monday.