Within the Hagia Sophia there was a large collection of holy relics, displayed all around and a 49 ft. silver iconostasis. An Iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave, which is the main body of the church, from the sanctuary. Relics usually consist of physical remains or the personal effects of a saint or venerated person, preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are also an important feature in many different forms of religion such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Shamanism. In Catholic theology sacred relics were not to be worshiped, as they believed that only god should be worshiped and adored. At the beginning there were no processes to authenticate the relics that were being used as displays. Due to this, forgeries began to circulate and a lot of collectors were swindled into buying fake holy relics. The existence of counterfeit relics forced the Church to begin regulating their use and authenticity. Relics are now required to be sealed in a reliquary, and accompanied by a certificate of authentication signed and sealed by someone in the Congregation of Saints or by the local Bishop where the saint lived. If the holy relic is not properly authenticated then it cannot be used for public veneration.
Some of the more famous holy relics that have been housed in the Hagia Sophia are the Shroud of Mary, Nails from the true cross and the tombstone of Jesus. These relics were removed when the church was ransacked at the time of the fourth crusade.
Nave
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relic
Photo Sources:
http://www.livius.org/a/turkey/istanbul/hagia_sophia/istanbul_hagia_sophia_nave_entrance_1.JPG
Karina,
I found it very interesting that they have to originate the relics and have a letter of authenticity with each one. In your reading did you happen to find out what that process entails? Especially very old relics, like the nails from the cross. How do they know those are original?
Unfortunately I have not been able to find any information on the authentication process itself. I have read that the process has to be signed and sealed by someone in the Congregation of Saints or by a local bishop where the saint lived, without this relics are not to be publicly venerated. As far as the nails of the cross are concerned they do know that many people claim to have them and there is no way to tell who would have the originals. This is the case for many of the more infamous relics.
This was very interesting! I never thought about the authenticity of relics of any kind when looking at museums. Is there any certain criteria that a holy relic has to meet before being granted the paperwork to show its authenticity?
I though it was interesting as well, this topic was enlightening.
to answer your question: It has to go through a authentication process, there is not much information about the specifics that I could find, then it is signed and sealed by someone in the Congregation of Saints or a local bishop where the saint lived.
I also posted on the relics that this houses. I thought that this was probably the most interesting because of the artifacts that could be found here. Having the opportunity to see the nails used to crucify Jesus Christ would be amazing in my opinion.