hagia sophia: an illustrated guide

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HAGIA SOPHIA

Before the structure that we all came to know was constructed,

two different churches sat on its site.The first one, known as the “Great Church” opened under

the reign of Constantius II, and it was built by the orders

of his father, Constantine the Great.

The church featured a wooden-roofed basilica with a nave

flanked by two or four aisles. It later burned in 404 during

riots, leaving no remains.

360 c.e.


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19351453532-37 c.e.415 c.e.360 c.e.

532-37 c.e.

After the second structure was destroyed,

Emperor Justinian I commissioned a third

and final structure to be built in place.

Construction took five years, a record

time for the period, and took the labor

of over 10,000 workers.

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2. bell tower

The bell tower was located in

front of the courtyard. The bells

were rung to announce weddings,funerals, or other service. It was also

used within the liturgy of the church

service.

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3. baptistry

The baptistry was a room

adjacent to the basilica

where the ceremony of baptism, which symbolizes

the entrance into the

Church and religion

was held.

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4. basilica layout

The interior layout was

based on typical Byzantine

conventions. The main entrancewas to the west, following a

procession of an outer and

inner narthex into the big

open nave over which stood the

central dome. At the end pointing

east were located the apse and

sanctuary.

nave

aisle

innernarthexouter

narthex

sanctuaryapse

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1453

Under the rule of Sultan Mehmed II,

Constantinople was conquered and

turned into Istanbul. The Sultan

ordered for the basilica to be

promptly converted into a mosque.

This religious change brought

forth multiple changes within

the structure itself.

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mosque elements

In order to not only demonstrate

dominance over the Byzantines,but to be able to properly

transition from Christianity

to Islam practice within the

structure, several changes and

additions had to be made.

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1. minarets

The four minarets surrounding the

mosque were added by different sultans,

which is emphasized by their difference

in shape and materiality. The minarets

serve as points for the call to prayer, a

very important part of Islam.

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2. dome

After the Ottoman conquest,

many of the Christian imagery inside

Hagia Sophia was plastered overed

and replaced with Islamic symbols.

The image of cherubs within the pendentives

of the dome however were left behind, with their

faces covered by a golden halo. The dome is the

third one to sit on the structure, as two before

collapsed during fires in Constantinople.

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3. turbe

A total of five turbe or tombs were

added adjacent to the Hagia Sophia

mosque. Within these are buried

five Sultans and their extended

families.

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4. baptistryThe part of the structure associated

with baptisms during the basilica days

was used to bury two of the Sultans,

Mustafa I and Ibrahim. This is yet

another symbolic movement of

Ottoman power.

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5. calligraphic roundelsAdded in the 19th century, six

prominent calligraphic roundels

made out of wood were hung within the

walls of Hagia Sophia. These roundels

represent Allah, Muhammad and the latter’s

immediate family. Because of their color,

black with gold writing, they present a strong

contrast against some of the existing mosaics.

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6. mihrab

The mihrab in Islamic architecture

is a rounded niche in the wall that marks

the direction of Mecca for prayer. Because

Hagia Sophia was designed as a Byzantine

Basilica, the mihrab has to be placed slightly

off-center.

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7. minbar

A tall, pulpit-like structure in the

back, located to the right of the

mihrab is the minbar. From this

platform, the prayer leader

delivers the sermons and lectures.

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1935 - museum

a new program

The first Turkish president, Mustafa

Kemal Ataturk, officially transformedHagia Sophia into a museum. Because of

the deteriorated condition of the building, it went

under serious renovations and conservations that

allowed for some of the Byzantine elements to be

re-discovered.


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1. omphalionAfter the carpets were removed

the omphalion was discovered after

centuries. It is a series of circular mosaics on

the floor indicate where the coronation

of Byzantine emperors occurred. It also

indicated where the emperor would sit

during church services.

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2. cracked roof

The first stage of the restoration

before opening into a museum

involved reparations of the cracked

copper roof that was causing leaks to

destroy some of the fragile mosaics.

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3. mosaics/frescoes

The second phase of the

restoration involved training a

team to restore and uncover the

Byzantine mosaics hidden under plaster

or ruined by the leakage moisture. The project

was finalized in 2006 and is now the

second most visited museum in Turkey.

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The importance of Hagia Sophia through time is something that cannot be

underrated. The structure held great significance for two great civilizations

alike, the Byzantines and the Ottomans. Both cultures were greatly impacted

at their times by the lasting structure, serving in them as a prominent religious

structure as well as a power indicative monument that has withheld physical

changes for over 1,400 years. Because of this, neither one can be claimed as a

true and sole identity of Hagia Sophia, as it has so much history embeddedwithin its walls. By turning the landmark into a museum, the opportunity to

celebrate and pay tribute to both civilizations by exposing information and

pieces of each one to a greater audience has been made possible, as a piece

of great historical value has become more accessible to everyone.

conclusion


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Charles, Martin A.. “Hagia Sophia and the Great Imperial Mosques”. The Art Bulletin 12.4 (1930): 321–345. Web.

Emerson, William, and Robert L. Van Nice. “HAGIA SOPHIA: THE COLLAPSE OF THE FIRST DOME”.

Archaeology 4.2 (1951): 94–103. Web.

Emerson, William, and Robert L. Van Nice. “HAGIA SOPHIA: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SECOND

DOME AND ITS LATER REPAIRS”. Archaeology 4.3 (1951): 162–171. Web.

Emerson, William, and Robert L. van Nice. “Hagia Sophia and the First Minaret Erected After the Conquest of

Constantinople”. American Journal of Archaeology 54.1 (1950): 28–40. Web.

"Hagia Sophia." Hagia Sophia. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

Larsen, Sven. “A Forerunner of Hagia Sophia”. American Journal of Archaeology 41.1 (1937): 1–5. Web.

Smith, Christine. “Cyriacus of Ancona's Seven Drawings of Hagia Sophia”. The Art Bulletin 69.1 (1987): 16–32. Web.

Taylor, Rabun. “A Literary and Structural Analysis of the First Dome on Justinian's Hagia Sophia, Constantinople”.

Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 55.1 (1996): 66–78. Web.

Terry, Ann, Robert Mark, and Ahmet S. Cakmak. "Hagia Sophia: From the Age of Justinian to the Present."

Technology and Culture 35.4 (1994): 894. Web.

Wenzel, Fritz. "Investigations into the Construction and Repair History of the Hagia Sophia." Construction History

25 (2010): 1-20. JSTOR. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

Base digital model obtained from the SketchUp Warehouse. Further revisions, modeling, linework, and rendering

done by S. Zavala.

bibliography


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hagia sophia: an illustrated guide

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