Sfânta Înţelepciune / Holy Wisdom

Hagia Sofia, muzeu din Istanbul, 20 lire turceşti intrarea (aproximativ 8 euro), comoară a lumii. După cum ne spune draga de Wikipedia (scuzaţi lenea, nu mai traduc):

“Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.

The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity, its dedication feast taking place on 25 December, the anniversary of the Birth of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ. Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after Saint Sophia), sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom – the full name in Greek being Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, "Church of the Holy Wisdom of God".”

Clarificare/remarcă importantă: din 360 până în 1054 (Marea Schismă), Sofia a fost, pur şi simplu, Catedrala Creştinătăţii. Şi acum…da, muzeu. Este greu să faci o asociere mentală între interiorul acela şi cuvântul muzeu. Poate că imaginea mea despre un „muzeu” era, până acum, cea a unui spaţiu aseptic, neutru, în care importante erau exponatele şi felul în care erau puse în valoare, şi nu „pereţii”.

În Sophia m-am simţit strivită, dar strivită în mod plăcut, dacă mi se permite formularea, de Istorie, nici mai mult nici mai puţin decât de o mare bucată din istoria umanităţii. Nu m-a apucat zelul religios, nu m-am simţit nici mai ortodoxă nici mai atee ca de obicei. Dar am simţit „uimire şi cutremur” uitându-mă la fecioara Maria (care stă acolo, privind vrute şi nevrute cu un calm...divin, din 867) şi la îngerii ieşiţi parcă dintr-un text apocrif, doar aripi şi război.

Din punctul meu de vedere Hagia Sofia (Sfânta Înţelepciune, să nu uităm) a devenit unul dintre cele mai convingătoare şi valoroase muzee de istorie din lume. Când vezi sfinţi palizi lângă împăraţi bizantini lângă citate într-o minunată caligrafie arabă te apucă un fior al vechimii, indiferent de ce ai nimerit acolo şi cu ce aşteptări.

Bineînţeles, în acest caz este vorba de mai mult decât un muzeu, oricât de minunat ar fi acesta. Dar una din calităţile sale trebuie să reprezinte o caracteristică esenţială a oricărui muzeu care merită acest nume: un muzeu trebuie să te mişte, intr-un fel sau altul. Din muzeu trebuie să ieşi cu mintea mai deschisă şi spiritul mai înălţat decât înainte să păşeşti acolo.

Am aruncat o privire pe lista Patrimoniului Mondial UNESCO, cât şi pe cea a criteriilor de selecţie (http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/). Hagia Sofia nu se află, momentan, pe lista permanentă, deşi ar cam trebui să fie. Aşa că aştept...

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul museum, 20 Turkish lira entrance fee (approximately 8 euros), treasure of the world. As our dear Wikipedia informs us:

“Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.

The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity, its dedication feast taking place on 25 December, the anniversary of the Birth of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ. Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after Saint Sophia), sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom – the full name in Greek being Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, "Church of the Holy Wisdom of God".”

Important remark/clarification: from 360 to 1054 (year of the Great Schism), the Sophia was, simple as that, the Cathedral of Christendom. And now…yes, museum. It’s difficult to mentally associate this building with the word “museum”. Maybe that’s because my mental image of a museum has been that of a rather “aseptic” space, somewhat neutral, where the important part was always played by the exhibits and their positioning, and not by “the walls”.

In the Sophia I felt crushed, but in a very pleasant way if I may say so, by History, a large chunk of humanity’s history. Religious zeal did not grab me, nor did I feel more orthodox or more atheistic than usually. But I felt “fear and trembling” while looking at the Virgin Mary (standing on the wall, watching a little bit of everything with…divine calm, since 867) and the angels brought out of an apocryphal text, all wings and war.

From my point of view the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom, let’s not forget that) has become one of the most convincing and valuable history museums of the world. When you see pale saints next to Byzantine emperors next to quotes written in a wonderful Arabic calligraphy, you experience a thrill of the ancientness, no matter why you ended up there and what you had been expecting.

Obviously, in this case we are referring to a space that is much more than just a museum, but one of its qualities must represent a characteristic essential to any space worth being named as such: a museum must touch you, even more so, a museum must shake you. You need to walk out with a mind that’s more open and a spirit that’s more enlightened than before.

I had a look at the UNESCO World Heritage list and at the selection criteria (http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/). Currently the Hagia Sophia is not on the permanent list, though it should be. So, I am waiting…