The enormous dome and four graceful minarets of the Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom) rise above the anarchy and noise of city center of Istanbul, for more than a millennium forming the most extraordinary figure on Europe’s skyline. But walk out of the ruthless sun and discover its essence in the haunting attractiveness of its faintly lit interior, one of the biggest enclosed spaces on the planet.

The Byzantine capital of Constantinople was fast approaching its pinnacle as spiritual, business, and artistic heart of the Roman Empire when, in the sixth century A.D., Justinian started work on this position on the Bosporus, which over time rose to turn out to be the best church in all of ancient Byzantium, representing  the power and prosperity of its emperors. Sadly, much of the church’s original marble and gold, and its four acres of elaborate mosaics, were ransacked during the Crusades in 1204 and carried off as loot. In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire, and the church was transformed to a mosque. In 1934 it was stripped of all spiritual importance and purpose, but it will always be a religious oasis, remaining as the single premium building to have survived ancient times.

Close by, the rooms and restaurants of the Four Seasons Hotel provide views of the place as well as of the graceful Blue Mosque and its six minarets, constructed by Sultan Ahmet I beginning in 1609.