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Changing Practices of Visitation in Istanbul Changing Practices of Visitation in Istanbul
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Sultans and the Night of Power Ceremonies Sultans and the Night of Power Ceremonies
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Worshippers and Spectators: Night of Power in Hagia Sophia Worshippers and Spectators: Night of Power in Hagia Sophia
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Notes Notes
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8 From Ceremony to Spectacle: Changing Perceptions of Hagia Sophia through the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr) Prayer Ceremonies
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Published:February 2024
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Abstract
After Hagia Sophia was converted into an imperial mosque by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (r. 1451–81), it became a key venue for imperial religious ceremonies. From the sixteenth century until the 1830s, Ottoman sultans customarily performed prayers for the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr) at Hagia Sophia. Although sultans eventually departed from this tradition and began attending the Night of Decree prayers at other mosques, such as Nusretiye and later the Hamidiye Mosque at Yıldız, Hagia Sophia remained significant to Istanbulites as a setting for this ceremony. From the 1880s, the court altered the ceremonial decorum at Hagia Sophia, issuing passes for foreign embassy staff and guests to observe from the upper galleries, with officials explaining the rituals. This period saw an increase in non-Muslim spectators, from tens to thousands. This paper examines the transformation of a religious ceremony into a spectacle by conceptualizing the Hagia Sophia as a showpiece monument, distinct in function from other imperial mosques. It argues that the Hagia Sophia, historically used as a political tool, continued to serve this purpose in a different way between the 1880s and 1932.
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