Hagia Sophia was first named "Megale Ekklesia" (The Great Church) as it was the largest church in Constantinople (Istanbul today). The historian Socrates indicated that the church was named Sophia during the reign of Emperor Constantius. The name given to the church symbolized the second divine attribute of the Holy Trinity. Originally, Sophia, which means "Holy Wisdom", was a name given to Christ by 4th century theologians.For centuries it stood at the heart of two of the world's great religions: To Christians it was Hagia Sophia, Church of the Holy Wisdom, mother church of the Orthodox faith, and of the thousand year old Byzantine Empire. To Muslims, it became Ayasofya Camii, Mosque of Holy Wisdom and jewel of Istanbul. Today its one of the two most important Museums in Turkey. In the words of 5th Century Byzantine historian Procopius; "The dome is a work admirable and terrifying... Seeming not to rest on the masonry below it, but to be suspended by a chain of gold from the height of the sky.... When one enters this building to pray, he feels that it is not the work of human power....The soul, lifting itself to the sky, realizes that here God is close by, and that He takes delight in this, His chosen home."
In A.D. 326, Constantinople (Istanbul Today) was laid out on the shores of the Bosporus by Emperor Constantine. Thirty years later, his successor built its first great church (Hagia Sophia). In 404 AD the church was destroyed by mobs set into action when Emperor Arcadius sent Archbishop John Chrysostom into exile for his criticism of the Empress. In 415 AD Emperor Theodosius II rebuilt the church. It too fell victim to a rampaging mob at the time of Monophysite heretics in 532 AD. The new Emperor Justinian, firm defender of orthodoxy, made short work of the howling heretics and ordered that construction begin on a new basilica such as had never been seen before. The construction work lasted from 532 to 537; The gigantic structure was modeled loosely on the Roman Pantheon. Measuring 220 feet by 250 feet along its main floor, it was laid out as a rectangle, at whose center was a square. Soaring 180 feet above the square was a dome supported by four massive pendentives on equally massive piers. At the east and west ends of the dome square were two have domes serving as the apse and entrance bay. The engineering feat was even more incredible considering that only brick, mortar, and stone were used. Although the earlier Romans knew how to make concrete, these Eastern builders did not. Justinian embellished the interior with riches. Four acres of gold mosaics shimmered from the ceiling, and multicolored marble gleamed from the floors, columns, and wall panels. The finest and rarest materials from the four corners of the empire were brought to Constantinople to be used in the construction of Hagia Sophia. The prophyry columns previously taken to Rome from an Egyptian temple in Heliopolis, ivory and gold icons and ornaments from ancient temples in Ephesus, Kizikos and Baalbek were among them. The construction was completed in a very short time. Less than six years after work on it began, Justinian's monument to Christendom was completed.
On August 15th 553, January 14th 557 and May 7th 559, earthquakes destroyed the eastern side of the dome and much of it collapsed. Because the initial architects, Anthemius and Isodorus, were no longer living, the latter's nephew, Isidorus the Younger, was given the task of rebuilding. Isidorus increased the height of the dome by 2.65 meters and built buttresses in the form of towers to support the dome.
On February 9th 869, during the reign of Emperor Basil I (867-886), an earthquake damaged the western side of the building. It was repaired in 870. On October 25th 986, a violent earthquake resulted in the collapse of the western apse and caused partial damage to the dome. The church had to be closed until the architect Tridat finished repairing it in 994.
In 1204, knights of the Fourth Crusade marched on the Byzantine Empire's capital city, stripping it and Hagia Sophia so remorselessly that a chronicler called it the most awesome plunder "since the creation of the world." When Rome's hegemony ended 57 years later, the Church of the Holy Wisdom was devoid of glittering wealth. Bulky buttresses were built to shore it up, but its days of glory, and those of Constantinople, were drawing to a close.
During the Palaeologian age, Emperor Michael VIII (1261-1282) had Hagia Sophia repaired by the architect Ruchas, and the buttresses in the south-west were added at that time. In 1317, during the reign of Emperor Andronicus II, the north-eastern and south-western walls were reinforced on the exterior by pyramid-shaped buttresses. In 1348, the eastern half of the dome collapsed and was afterwards repaired. In the first half of the 15th century, travelers and other sources described Hagia Sophia as being in a state of disrepair. In 1453, Sultan Mohammed II massed the Ottoman army in front of the city. After a 53-day siege, the Byzantine Empire's great capital capitulated, and the conqueror marched into town and directly to Hagia Sophia - and declared Eastern Christianity's cornerstone a Mosque; For almost 500 years after it remained a Mosque; during which necessitated by Islamic architectural standards (see Plan / Section), changes were made as follow:
At the beginning, the Turks preserved the frescoes and mosaic figures of Christian saints which decorated the walls. However, in the 16th century, these were completely covered by plaster, since the Islamic code forbids figural representation. its mosaics whitewashed to hide the "idolatrous" figures of humans. Quarnic inscriptions were placed in the four corners beneath the dome; inscribed on rounded plates of 7.50 m diameter by Kazasker Mustafa Ýzzet Efendi, a famous Ottoman calligrapher. The names of: Allah, Muhammed, Omar, Usman, Ali, Hasan, Abu Bakir and Hüseyin are inscribed there.
Four minarets were erected at the corners of the exterior perimeter; a gilded bronze crescent replaced the large metal cross crowning the basilica. The Mosque of Holy Wisdom enjoyed a place of high regard among devotees of Islam.
Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" built an altar (Mihrab) in the east, since the apse should be in the direction of Mecca and the brick minaret on the south-east corner of the edifice. Sultan Bayezid (1484-1512) added a minaret on the north-east corner.
The famous Turkish architect Sinan, built the two minarets in front of the Mosque during the reign of Sultan Murad III (1574-1535). Murad III also had water urns of the Hellenistic period (300 BC) brought to the mosque from Bergama.
In A.D. 326, Constantinople (Istanbul Today) was laid out on the shores of the Bosporus by Emperor Constantine. Thirty years later, his successor built its first great church (Hagia Sophia). In 404 AD the church was destroyed by mobs set into action when Emperor Arcadius sent Archbishop John Chrysostom into exile for his criticism of the Empress. In 415 AD Emperor Theodosius II rebuilt the church. It too fell victim to a rampaging mob at the time of Monophysite heretics in 532 AD. The new Emperor Justinian, firm defender of orthodoxy, made short work of the howling heretics and ordered that construction begin on a new basilica such as had never been seen before. The construction work lasted from 532 to 537; The gigantic structure was modeled loosely on the Roman Pantheon. Measuring 220 feet by 250 feet along its main floor, it was laid out as a rectangle, at whose center was a square. Soaring 180 feet above the square was a dome supported by four massive pendentives on equally massive piers. At the east and west ends of the dome square were two have domes serving as the apse and entrance bay. The engineering feat was even more incredible considering that only brick, mortar, and stone were used. Although the earlier Romans knew how to make concrete, these Eastern builders did not. Justinian embellished the interior with riches. Four acres of gold mosaics shimmered from the ceiling, and multicolored marble gleamed from the floors, columns, and wall panels. The finest and rarest materials from the four corners of the empire were brought to Constantinople to be used in the construction of Hagia Sophia. The prophyry columns previously taken to Rome from an Egyptian temple in Heliopolis, ivory and gold icons and ornaments from ancient temples in Ephesus, Kizikos and Baalbek were among them. The construction was completed in a very short time. Less than six years after work on it began, Justinian's monument to Christendom was completed.
On August 15th 553, January 14th 557 and May 7th 559, earthquakes destroyed the eastern side of the dome and much of it collapsed. Because the initial architects, Anthemius and Isodorus, were no longer living, the latter's nephew, Isidorus the Younger, was given the task of rebuilding. Isidorus increased the height of the dome by 2.65 meters and built buttresses in the form of towers to support the dome.
On February 9th 869, during the reign of Emperor Basil I (867-886), an earthquake damaged the western side of the building. It was repaired in 870. On October 25th 986, a violent earthquake resulted in the collapse of the western apse and caused partial damage to the dome. The church had to be closed until the architect Tridat finished repairing it in 994.
In 1204, knights of the Fourth Crusade marched on the Byzantine Empire's capital city, stripping it and Hagia Sophia so remorselessly that a chronicler called it the most awesome plunder "since the creation of the world." When Rome's hegemony ended 57 years later, the Church of the Holy Wisdom was devoid of glittering wealth. Bulky buttresses were built to shore it up, but its days of glory, and those of Constantinople, were drawing to a close.
During the Palaeologian age, Emperor Michael VIII (1261-1282) had Hagia Sophia repaired by the architect Ruchas, and the buttresses in the south-west were added at that time. In 1317, during the reign of Emperor Andronicus II, the north-eastern and south-western walls were reinforced on the exterior by pyramid-shaped buttresses. In 1348, the eastern half of the dome collapsed and was afterwards repaired. In the first half of the 15th century, travelers and other sources described Hagia Sophia as being in a state of disrepair. In 1453, Sultan Mohammed II massed the Ottoman army in front of the city. After a 53-day siege, the Byzantine Empire's great capital capitulated, and the conqueror marched into town and directly to Hagia Sophia - and declared Eastern Christianity's cornerstone a Mosque; For almost 500 years after it remained a Mosque; during which necessitated by Islamic architectural standards (see Plan / Section), changes were made as follow:
At the beginning, the Turks preserved the frescoes and mosaic figures of Christian saints which decorated the walls. However, in the 16th century, these were completely covered by plaster, since the Islamic code forbids figural representation. its mosaics whitewashed to hide the "idolatrous" figures of humans. Quarnic inscriptions were placed in the four corners beneath the dome; inscribed on rounded plates of 7.50 m diameter by Kazasker Mustafa Ýzzet Efendi, a famous Ottoman calligrapher. The names of: Allah, Muhammed, Omar, Usman, Ali, Hasan, Abu Bakir and Hüseyin are inscribed there.
Four minarets were erected at the corners of the exterior perimeter; a gilded bronze crescent replaced the large metal cross crowning the basilica. The Mosque of Holy Wisdom enjoyed a place of high regard among devotees of Islam.
Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" built an altar (Mihrab) in the east, since the apse should be in the direction of Mecca and the brick minaret on the south-east corner of the edifice. Sultan Bayezid (1484-1512) added a minaret on the north-east corner.
The famous Turkish architect Sinan, built the two minarets in front of the Mosque during the reign of Sultan Murad III (1574-1535). Murad III also had water urns of the Hellenistic period (300 BC) brought to the mosque from Bergama.
