HAGIA IRENE

Description

Essentials about Hagia Irene in brief

If you are a fan of ancient churches, you should definitely not skip a visit to Hagia Irene. Hagia Irene (Greek “Church of Divine Peace”) is a former Byzantine church and was the first church of Constantinople. In the Ottoman period it was used as an armory, but today it is a museum and serves as a concert hall. It is located in the large (first) courtyard between Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace in the heart of Istanbul.

The history of Hagia Irene

Hagia Irene was built under the Roman Emperor Constantine I in the 4th century as the first church of Constantinople. It was the church of the Patriarchate before the legendary Hagia Sophia was built only 200 years later. Once the most beautiful church of the Christians, it was the scene of many historical events: Emperor Constantine I proclaimed his empire – the “Nova Roma” – here in 330, and in 381 the First Council and, at the same time, the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople convened under Emperor Theodosius I. The church was also the scene of the sometimes bloody religious disputes between representatives of the Arians and Trinitarians during the so-called Arian Controversy.

After the church was burned down during the Nika Revolt in 532, Emperor Justinian I had it rebuilt. After being destroyed again by an earthquake in 740, Hagia Irene was largely rebuilt under Constantine V and has been preserved in its former appearance to this day.

After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, the palace guard of the Janissaries (the elite troops of the army) used the church as an arsenal. Ahmet Fethi Pasha, marshal of the arsenal, had a museum established in the church in 1846. In 1875, when there was not enough space for more exhibits, the collection was moved to the Topkapi Palace complex. In 1869 the church became the Imperial Museum and in 1908 it became the Military Museum for some time. Since 1973, the restored monument has been used for classical concerts because of its impressive acoustic atmosphere.

The architecture of Hagia Irene

Hagia Irene is an early architectural example of the transition from a basilica floor plan to a central building in the shape of a Greek cross. It is also the only Byzantine church with an original preserved atrium. The gallery basilica, vaulted by two domes, ends in the east in a polygonal apse pierced by three large round-arched windows. In the apse dome (the half-domed vault of the apse) there is no representation of the Mother of God, but a large cross. It represents a unique testimony of iconoclastic art.