Cretans dance syrtos outside Hagia Sophia – Watch the video

Hagia Sophia Cretan dancing syrtos

The video was first posted on Instagram by the lyra player from Rethymno, Giannis Giannakakis.

Giannis Giannakakis posted a video of six Cretans dancing outside the Hagia Sophia, a special moment full of emotion and cultural pride.

The dance involved himself and five other men from Chania and Rethymno who travelled to Istanbul last Friday.

When outside the Hagia Sophia, the five Cretans danced a syrtos (a Greek folk dance).

The six Cretans who participated were Giannis Giannakakis, Giorgos Xenakis, Michalis Lymakis, Nikos Lagoudakis, and Stelios Gasparakis. Giannis Georgalis recorded the video.

Built in just five years during the 6th century, the Hagia Sophia was the world’s largest church for a millennium. Its architectural innovations, like pioneering pendentives to support a massive dome, created a vast and awe-inspiring interior space.

Byzantine architecture, characterised by ornate details and colourful elements, flourished, in part due to the Hagia Sophia’s groundbreaking design.

Hagia Sophia Turkey

On July 10th, 2020, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced the opening of the site for Muslim worship on a Friday, shortly after a high court overturned a 1934 ruling that had converted it into a museum.

The decision to reconvert Hagia Sophia – a former cathedral that was turned into a mosque after Istanbul’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire and had served as a museum for 86 years – sparked deep dismay among Orthodox Christians.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan performed Friday prayer at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul.

Today, the Hagia Sophia appears quite different. In 1453, the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople led to its conversion into a mosque. Islamic features like minarets were added and some of the Christian mosaics were either covered or destroyed.

READ MORE: Crown Prince Pavlos’s Bold Move: Applying for Greek Citizenship.