Pre-Ottoman
Hagia Sophia
532–537 · Fatih / Sultanahmet
The first fully realised pendentive dome in architectural history — a ~32 m ring of 40 windows creating the famous 'floating dome' effect; the central reference work of Byzantine architecture that directly shaped every major Ottoman mosque, culminating in Sinan's Süleymaniye and Selimiye. A unique palimpsest of Byzantine mosaics, Ottoman calligraphic medallions, and Sinan-era buttresses on one monument.
- Dome
- 31.87 m
- Height
- 55.6 m
- Minarets
- 4
- Built
- 532–537
- Architect
- Anthemius of Tralles & Isidore of Miletus
- Patron
- Justinian I
- District
- Fatih / Sultanahmet
- rebuilt after
- dome collapse, 558
History
The current Hagia Sophia was built in 532–537 by order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the third church on the site; the two earlier basilicas had been destroyed by fire, the last during the Nika riots of January 532. Construction was entrusted to the mathematician Anthemius of Tralles and the engineer Isidore of Miletus. The church was inaugurated on 27 December 537 — just 5 years and 10 months after work began. Earthquakes in 553 and 557 damaged the dome, and in 558 its eastern half collapsed. Isidorus the Younger (nephew of the first architect) rebuilt it 6.25 m higher than before, completing the work in 562. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II converted it into a mosque, adding a minaret, minbar, and mihrab. Between 1573 and 1577 Mimar Sinan reinforced the walls with new buttresses and built the two large western minarets and the mausoleum of Selim II. The building served as a mosque until 1931, as a museum from 1935, and by presidential decree became a functioning mosque again on 24 July 2020.
Architecture
The great central dome of Hagia Sophia was among the largest in the world for more than a thousand years, until the construction of St Peter's in Rome. Reported diameters range from 31.24 to 33.5 m (most commonly cited at 31.87 m), with an interior height of 55.6 m from floor. The dome rests on four massive piers through pendentives — Hagia Sophia is considered one of the first buildings in architectural history to employ a fully pendentive dome. Forty arched windows around the dome's base create the famous effect of a dome 'floating' on a ring of light. The building occupies a footprint of approximately 76 × 70 m and could hold around 10,000 worshippers. The interior is decorated with gold-ground Byzantine mosaics and columns spoliated from earlier pagan temples — eight Corinthian columns brought from the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek (Lebanon), others from Ephesus, Egypt, and Athens. After the 1453 conversion, four minarets were added (southeast of brick, from Mehmed II's era; northeast by Bayezid II; two western ones by Sinan under Selim II), along with a minbar, sultan's lodge, mihrab, and the giant calligraphic medallions by Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi (1847–49).
Facts
- Construction took only 5 years and 10 months — from 23 February 532 to 27 December 537 — remarkable for a building of this scale. en.wikipedia.org
- After the dome's partial collapse in 558, Isidorus the Younger rebuilt it 6.25 m (20 Byzantine feet) higher than the original; the interior rises 55.6 m. en.wikipedia.org
- The two large western minarets were added by Mimar Sinan in the 1570s; sources disagree on whether they were commissioned under Selim II or Murad III — the great Ottoman architect personally reinforced the Byzantine monument with 24 buttresses. britannica.com
- Eight Corinthian columns were shipped to Constantinople from the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek (Lebanon) around 560; other columns came from Ephesus, Egypt, and Athens. en.wikipedia.org
- By presidential decree on 24 July 2020, Hagia Sophia was reconverted into a mosque after 86 years as a museum (1935–2020). britannica.com
Photographs
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