its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and to have "changed the history of architecture." It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Seville Cathedral in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 A.D. on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site. (The previous two had both been destroyed by riots.) It was designed by Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician. The church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 15 m (49 foot) silver iconostasis. It was the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years. It was the church in which Cardinal Humbert in 1054 marched up to the altar and excommunicated Michael I Cerularius, which is commonly considered the start of the Great Schism.
In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over. The Islamic features — such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside — were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey.
For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Hagia Sophia served as a model for many of the Ottoman mosques such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque of Istanbul), the Şehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, and the Kılıç Ali Paşa Mosque.
Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia, as though it were named after a saint named Sophia (sophia being the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom), the full name in Greek is Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, the church being dedicated to Jesus Christ, in Eastern Orthodox theology, the Holy Wisdom of God.
History
First church
Nothing remains of the first church that was built on this location, known as the Μεγάλη Ἐκκλησία (Megálē Ekklēsíā, "Great Church"), or in Latin "Magna Ecclesia".The church was built next to the area where the imperial palace was being developed and next to the smaller church Hagia Eirene ("Holy Peace"), finished first and acting as cathedral until the Hagia Sophia was completed. The Hagia Sophia was inaugurated by Constantius II on 15 February 360. Both churches acted together as the principal churches of the Byzantine Empire.
This church was chronicled by Socrates of Constantinople (380–440), who claimed that it was built by Constantine the Great. It was built as a traditional Latin colonnaded basilica with galleries and a wooden roof. It was preceded by an atrium. This first church was then already claimed to be one of the world's most outstanding monuments.
Second church
Stone remains of the basilica ordered by Theodosius II, showing the Lamb of God
Marble blocks from the second church
The fire that started during the tumult of the Nika Revolt resulted in the destruction of the (second) Hagia Sophia, which burned down to the ground on 13–14 January 532.
Several marble blocks from this second church have survived to the present day, and they are displayed in the garden of the current (third) church. The blocks were originally part of a monumental front entrance; they were excavated in the western courtyard by A. M. Schneider in 1935. The relief depicting 12 lambs — 12 apostles — as well as other remains of this church were discovered during excavation works in 1935. In order not to harm the present Hagia Sophia building, further excavation works were not carried out.
Third church (current structure)
Depiction of the Hagia Sophia's appearance during Byzantine times
Construction of church depicted in codex Manasses Chronicle
Justinian chose the physicist Isidore of Miletus and the mathematician Anthemius of Tralles as architects; Anthemius, however, died within the first year. The construction is described by the Byzantine historian Procopius' On Buildings (Peri ktismatōn, Latin: De aedificiis). The emperor had material brought from all over the empire, such as Hellenistic columns from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Large stones were brought from far-away quarries: porphyry from Egypt, green marble from Thessaly, black stone from the Bosporus region, and yellow stone from Syria. More than ten thousand people were employed during this construction. This new church was immediately recognized as a major work of architecture, demonstrating the creative insights of the architects. They may have used the theories of Heron of Alexandria to be able to construct a huge dome over such a large open space. The emperor, together with the patriarch Eutychius, inaugurated the new basilica on 27 December 537 with much pomp. The mosaics inside the church were, however, only completed under the reign of Emperor Justin II (565–578).
Earthquakes in August 553 and on 14 December 557 caused cracks in the main dome and the eastern half-dome to appear. The main dome collapsed completely during an earthquake on7 May 558, destroying the ambon, the altar, and the ciborium over it. The emperor ordered an immediate restoration. He entrusted it to Isidorus the Younger, nephew of Isidore of Miletus. This time he used lighter materials and elevated the dome by 6.25 metres (20.5 ft), thus giving the building its current interior height of 55.6 metres (182 ft). This reconstruction, giving the church its present sixth-century form, was completed in 562. The Byzantine poet Paul the Silentiary composed a long epic poem, still extant, known as Ekphrasis for the rededication of the basilica, presided over by Patriarch Eutychius, on 23 December 562.
Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for Byzantine imperial ceremonies such as coronations. The basilica also offered asylum to wrongdoers. Foreign visitors were deeply impressed.
In 726 the emperor Leo the Isaurian issued a series of edicts against the veneration of images, ordering the army to destroy all icons, ushering in the period of Byzantine iconoclasm. At that time, all religious pictures and statues were removed from Hagia Sophia. After a brief reprieve under Empress Irene (797–802), the iconoclasts made a comeback. Emperor Theophilus (829–842) was strongly influenced by Islamic art, which forbids graven images. He had a two-winged bronze door with his monograms installed at the southern entrance of the church.
The basilica suffered damage, first in a great fire in 859, and again in an earthquake on 8 January 869 that made a half-dome collapse. Emperor Basil I ordered the church to be repaired.
After the great earthquake of 25 October 989, which ruined the great dome of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine emperor Basil II asked for the Armenian architect Trdat, creator of the great churches of Ani and Agine, to repair the dome. His main repairs were to the western arch and a portion of the dome. The extent of the church's destruction meant that reconstruction lasted six years. The church was re-opened on 13 May 994.
In his book De caerimoniis aulae Byzantinae ("Book of Ceremonies"), Emperor Constantine VII (913–919) wrote about all the details of the ceremonies held in Hagia Sophia by the emperor and the patriarch.
19th Century marker of the tomb of Enrico Dandolo, the Doge of Venice who commanded the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, inside the Hagia Sophia
After the recapture in 1261 by the Byzantines, the church was in a dilapidated state. The four buttresses in the west were probably built during this time. In 1317, emperor Andronicus II ordered four new buttresses to be built in the eastern and northern parts of the church. After new cracks had developed in the dome after the earthquake of October 1344, several parts of the building collapsed on 19 May 1346. After that, the church remained closed until 1354, when repairs were undertaken by the architects Astras and Peralta.
