Hagia Sophia

By

Brian Freeman

Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών "Solomon, I have outdone thee!" Justinian I

¨ Located in Istanbul Turkey, Hagia Sophia is a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque and now is a museum.

¨ Hagia Sophia is sometimes called Church of the Holy Wisdom, or Ayasofya in Turkish.

¨ Unfortunately nothing remains of the original Hagia Sophia called Magna Ecclesia, which was built on site in the fourth century by Constantine the Great which was destroyed in a riot.

¨ Following the destruction of Constantine's church, a second church was built by his son Constantius and the emperor Theodosius the Great. This second church was burned down during another set of public disturbance called the Nika riots of 532, though fragments of it have been excavated and can be seen today.

¨ Hagia Sophia was rebuilt in her present form between 532 and 537 under the personal supervision of Emperor Justinian I.

¨ It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture and is universally acknowledged as one of the great buildings in world.

¨ The architects of the church were Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.

¨ Their work was a technical triumph, even though the structure was severely damaged several times by earthquakes. The original dome collapsed after an earthquake in 558 and its replacement fell in 563.

¨ For over 900 years the Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for church councils and imperial ceremonies.

¨ Hagia Sophia remained a functioning church until May 29, 1453, when Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror entered triumphantly into the city of Constantinople. He was amazed at the beauty of the Hagia Sophia and immediately converted it into his imperial mosque.

¨ The main ground plan of the building is a rectangle, 230 feet (70 m) in width and 246 feet (75) m in length.

¨ The area is covered by acentral dome with a diameter of 31 meters (102 feet), which is just slightly smaller than that of the Pantheon in Rome.

¨ 9th-century mosaic of the Virgin and Child, the oldest of the surviving mosaics in Hagia Sophia.

Krautheimer, Richard. Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture. Peguin Books:1986.

“Hagia Sophia, Istanbul” No pages. 7 March 2009.http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia.htm