HAGIA SOPHIA

Description

Essentials about Hagia Sophia in brief

Hagia Sophia is probably the most famous landmark of Istanbul. The former main church of the Byzantine Empire and the most powerful church of early Christianity is still considered the eighth wonder of the world because of its architectural uniqueness and magnificent interior. The Church of the “Holy Wisdom” (Greek for “Hagia Sophia”) experienced almost the entire eventful history of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul and thus became the symbol of the city.

The construction of Hagia Sophia

The first construction of a basilica with a wooden roof on the present site of Hagia Sophia was completed in 360, but it burned down during a revolt in 404. A new building under Emperor Theodosius II was inaugurated in 415, but went up in flames again during Justinian’s reign in the so-called Nika Uprising of 532.

Barely a month after the destruction, work began on the third attempt to erect the architectural masterpiece that to this day characterizes the image of Istanbul like no other building. According to legend, the shape of the church was revealed to Emperor Justinian in a dream. He wanted to endow a church “such as had not existed since Adam’s time and such as would never exist again.” Under the construction supervision of the architect Anthemios of Tralleis and the mathematician Isidor of Miletus, supported by over 100 foremen and an army of around ten thousand workers, Hagia Sophia was completed in a record construction time of only six years.

The architecture of Hagia Sophia

With a length of 80 meters, a width of 70 meters and a dome height of 55 meters, Hagia Sophia is not only the last of the great churches of late antiquity to be built in the Roman Empire since Constantine the Great, but in its architectural uniqueness is often considered a church without precedent or imitation. The dome of Hagia Sophia, with a span of 32 meters, remains to this day the largest dome in architectural history built over only four supporting points. Because of this immense dome, which floats almost weightlessly above the open main space, Hagia Sophia was considered the eighth wonder of the world in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Until the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, it was by far the largest church in Christendom for a millennium.

As the last great and by far the most important building of early Byzantine architecture and art of late antiquity, Hagia Sophia at the same time gave rise to a new paradigm of church building, which was partly in contrast to its older predecessors and was subsequently to form one of the cornerstones of Christian architecture that had a lasting influence on sacred architecture in both East and West.

The significance of Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia was the cathedral of Constantinople, the main church of the Byzantine Empire as well as the religious center of Orthodoxy. As the coronation church of the Byzantine emperors (since 641), the cathedral of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the site of important historical events, Hagia Sophia is particularly connected with Byzantine history as well as with the history of ideas of Christianity in general. Planned as a building of universal importance, it also remained a universal Christian spiritual center throughout the Middle Ages. On the right side of the Naos (the center of the church), the Omphalion therefore also symbolizes the center of the earth, the proverbial “navel of the world”. However, its construction and symbolic power were of extraordinary importance, especially for Orthodox Christianity and the Empire. Therefore, it is still considered a great sanctuary by most Orthodox Christians.

After the occupation of Constantinople by the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the place of worship served as a Roman Catholic church until the Byzantine reconquest of Constantinople in 1261. After that, Hagia Sophia was again consecrated to the Orthodox rite until 1453.

Hagia Sophia as a mosque

After the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, Christian insignia, interior furnishings, decorations and bells of Hagia Sophia were removed or covered by plaster. After Hagia Sophia was subsequently adapted as the main mosque of the Ottomans, the sultans of the 16th and 17th centuries placed themselves in the Byzantine tradition with significant architectural receptions of Hagia Sophia. The most famous reception is the Sultan Ahmed or Blue Mosque. Thus, the most common type of mosque today, the central dome, is ultimately based on the Hagia Sophia, while in the first centuries of Islamic history the pillared hall mosque type was still dominant. In general, Hagia Sophia, despite its Islamic adoption, has survived less modified among the important early Christian sacred buildings from a purely architectural perspective than the great early Christian basilicas of Rome and Jerusalem. In 1931 the Hagia was finally secularized and in 1935 it was converted into a museum. In 2000, however, the conversion back into a mosque took place, accompanied by great international criticism.

The dome of Hagia Sophia

The architectural highlight of Hagia Sophia is its massive dome. Roman architects had already gained great experience with mighty domes for centuries, the construction of which was made possible by the use of concrete. In the case of the Hagia Sophia, however, the tried and tested support with concrete was dispensed with. With the exception of the main pillars, the entire building is of brick construction – typical of Eastern Europe.

During construction, the extremely shallow dome collapsed twice during earthquakes and, after a revision of the building plan in 558-562, was rebuilt to its present form by Isidoros of Miletus the Younger, nephew of the previous director of construction. Isidoros increased the vaulting of the dome, which was too shallowly inclined, and had the buttresses reinforced. On December 24, 562, while Emperor Justinian I was still alive, the new dome was inaugurated.

Even later, earthquakes caused problems to the dome. During large quakes, the western dome arch collapsed in 989 and the eastern dome arch in 1346. Only afterwards were retaining walls added to the outside of the church for structural reasons; they significantly changed the original visual impression. Today there are 40 windows in the dome of Hagia Sophia. It is usually assumed that the windows are intended to prevent cracks from forming in the dome by allowing cracks that do form to run into the void, thus preventing further spread of the cracks with possible destruction of the entire dome. It is assumed that the builders recognized these connections from the example of the Pantheon in Rome and for this reason included window openings at the particularly vulnerable base of the dome.

The interior of Hagia Sophia

The interior of Hagia Sophia is famous for its beautiful mosaic and marble decoration. Many of the original mosaics were destroyed during and after the transformation into a mosque. Those that remain were uncovered after they were whitewashed. These include the particularly valuable mosaics in the upper galleries depicting Emperor Alexander (10th century), Empress Zoe (11th century) with her husband Constantine IX Monomachus, Emperor John II Komnenos (12th century) with his wife Irene and their son Alexios, and in fragments Jesus as the Judge of the World (late 13th/early 14th century).

Also of art historical importance is the group of figures with Christ Pantokrator (ruler of the world) above the Emperor’s Door in the inner narthex (9th century). The kneeling emperor without name inscription is today mostly identified with Leon VI (late 9th/early 10th century). Above the southwest exit of this room, the Porta Aurea, through which the emperor entered, is another remarkable lunette mosaic. It depicts Mary with the Child together with Emperor Constantine handing her Constantinople and Emperor Justinian handing her Hagia Sophia. The oldest surviving figural mosaics from the 9th century are on the north shield wall. John Chrysostom, Ignatius the Younger and Ignatius Theophorus of Antioch can be seen. Also preserved in the apse are a Madonna and, not far away, remains of the archangels Gabriel and Michael.

The walls, covered with marble and porphyry slabs up to the base of the vault, were placed in such a way that their pattern doubled in mirror image. The floor is covered with slabs of Proconnesian marble. In front of the second pillar of the right side, there is the rectangular omphalion (meaning “navel of the world”) made of black, green and red marble slices, marking the place occupied by the emperor during the liturgy. Even in the early Byzantine description of the church, the marble floor, like the marble columns and other interior decoration, were considered particularly impressive. Thus, the texture, color and pattern of the carefully cut marble slabs with evocative powers of a mystical meaning were interpreted as signs of the presence of God.