Encyclopedia
Hagia Sophia , now known as the
Ayasofya Museum, is a former
Eastern Orthodox church converted to a
mosque in 1453, converted into a
museum in 1935, in the
Turkish city of
Istanbul. It is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest buildings of the world and sometimes considered the Eighth Wonder of the World. Its conquest by the
Ottomans at the
fall of Constantinople is considered one of the great tragedies of
Christianity by the Greek Orthodox faithful.
The name comes from the Greek name
, a contraction of . It is also known as
in
Latin and
in
Turkish.
Description
Hagia Sophia is covered by a central
dome with a diameter of 31 meters and 56 metres high, slightly smaller than the
Pantheon's. The dome seems rendered weightless by the unbroken arcade of arched windows under it, which help flood the colourful interior with light.
The dome is carried on
pendentives — four concave triangular sections of masonry which solve the problem of setting the circular base of a dome on a rectangular base. At Hagia Sophia the weight of the dome passes through the pendentives to four massive piers at the corners. Between them the dome seems to float upon four great arches.
At the western and eastern ends, the arched openings are extended by half domes carried on smaller semidomed
exedras. Thus a hierarchy of dome-headed elements builds up to create a vast oblong interior crowned by the main dome, a sequence unexampled in antiquity.
All interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marbles, green and white with purple porphyry and gold mosaics, encrusted upon the brick. On the exterior, simple stuccoed walls reveal the clarity of massed vaults and domes.
Construction
Nothing remains of the first church that was built on the same site during the
4th century. Following the destruction of the first church, a second was built by
Constantius II, the son of
Constantine I, but was burned down during the
Nika riots of 532. The building was rebuilt under the personal supervision of Emperor
Justinian I and rededicated on December 27, 537.
Justinian chose Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, a physicist and a mathematician, as architects; Anthemius, however, died within the first year. The construction is described in Procopius'
On Buildings . The Byzantine poet Paulus the Silentiary composed an extant poetic
ekphrasis, probably for the rededication of 563, which followed the collapse of the main dome.
Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of
Byzantine architecture. Of great artistic value was its decorated interior with
mosaics and
marble pillars and coverings. The temple itself was so richly and artistically decorated that Justinian proclaimed "
Solomon, I have surpassed thee!" . Justinian himself had overseen the completion of the greatest cathedral ever built up to that time, and it was to remain the largest cathedral for 1,000 years up until the completion of the
cathedral in Seville.
Justinian's basilica was at once the culminating architectural achievement of late
antiquity and the first masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. Its influence, both architecturally and liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the
Eastern Orthodox,
Roman Catholic, and
Muslim worlds alike. Under Justinian's orders, eight Corinthian columns were disassembled from
Baalbek,
Lebanon and shipped to Constantinople for the construction of Hagia Sophia.
The dome of the Hagia Sophia has spurred particular interest for many art historians and architects because of the innovative way the original architects envisioned the dome. The dome is supported by
pendentives which had never been used before the building of this structure. The pendentive enables the round dome to transition gracefully into the square shape of the piers below. The pendentives not only achieve a pleasing aesthetic quality, but they also restrain the lateral forces of the dome and allow the weight of the dome to flow downward.
Although this design stabilizes the dome and the surrounding walls and arches, the actual construction of the walls of the Hagia Sophia weakened the overall structure. The bricklayers used more mortar than brick, which, of course, constitutes a weak wall. The structure would have been more stable had the builders at least let the mortar dry before they began the next layer, however, they did not do this. When the dome was placed atop the building, the weight of the dome caused the walls to lean outward because of the wet mortar underneath. When Isidorus the Younger rebuilt the original dome, he had to first build up the interior of the walls so that they were vertical in order to support the weight of the new dome. Another probable change in the design of the dome when it was rebuilt was the actual height of the dome. Isidorus the Younger raised the height of the dome by approximately twenty feet so that the lateral forces would not be as strong and the weight of the dome would flow more easily down the walls.
A second interesting fact about the original structure of the dome was how the architects were able to place forty windows around the base of the dome. The Hagia Sophia is famous for the mystical quality of light that reflects everywhere in the interior of the
nave, which gives the dome the appearance of hovering above the nave. This design is possible because the dome is shaped like a scalloped shell or the inside of an umbrella with ribs that extend from the top of the dome down to the base. These ribs allow the weight of the dome to flow between the windows, down the pendentives, and ultimately to the foundation.
The anomalies in the design of the Hagia Sophia show how this structure is one of the most advanced and ambitious monuments since the
fall of Rome.
History
Hagia Sophia was the seat of the
Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for Byzantine imperial ceremonies.
The structure has been severely damaged several times by
earthquakes. The dome collapsed after an earthquake in 558; its replacement fell in 563. There were additional partial collapses in 989 after which an
Armenian architect named Trdat was commissioned to repair the damage. During the
Latin Occupation the church became a
Roman Catholic cathedral, and its many treasures and relics were dispersed, mainly lost to monasteries in Western Europe. It was radically converted to a
mosque after the
Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II in 1453. In 1935, under the order of
Turkish president Kemal Atatürk, Hagia Sophia was secularized and turned into the Ayasofya Museum.
For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Ayasofya served as model for many of the Ottoman mosques such as the Shehzade Mosque, the
Suleiman Mosque, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque.
Because more conservative factions of
Islam consider the depiction of the human form to be blasphemous, its mosaics were covered with plaster. The Ottoman Sultans, however, periodically removed the plaster to service and maintain the mosaics, before replastering. Many restorations and repairs were done by Ottoman architects. The most famous and extensive work was done by
Mimar Sinan in the 16th century, which included the addition of structural supports to the exterior of the building, the replacement of the old minarets with the minarets that stand today, and the addition of Islamic pulpits and art.
The 19th century restoration of the Fossati brothers, which included the addition of a pulpit and the four medallions on the walls of the nave bearing the names of Muhammad and the first caliphs, is believed to have destroyed many of the original mosaics.
20th Century restoration
Restoration work in the 20th century was begun in 1932 by the American Byzantine Institute, during which most of the figures were uncovered.
Due to its long history as both a church and a mosque, a particular challenge arises in the restoration process. The Christian
iconographic mosaics are being gradually uncovered. However, in order to do so, important, historic Islamic art would have to be destroyed. Restorers have attempted to maintain a balance between both Christian and Islamic cultures. In particular, much controversy rests upon whether the Islamic
calligraphy on the dome of the cathedral should be removed, in order to permit the underlying
Pantocrator mosaic of Christ as Master of the World, to be exhibited .
Restoration controversies
Work has reportedly been purposely slow on the Hagia Sophia due to its important position and symbolism within the
Eastern Orthodox Church. The
Ecumenical Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church has claimed that the Turkish Government has denied offers to provide monetary assistance for the further restoration of Hagia Sophia in order to downplay its importance. Some Orthodox and Catholic Christians have gone so far as to demand the return of Hagia Sophia to the Orthodox Christian religion as a condition of Turkey's entry into the
European Union.
In 2002 Reuters reported that many mosaics and icons stored in the basement of the cathedral had been damaged by moisture; this has caused some to question whether the Turkish authorities were capable of preserving the monument. It was further pointed out in 2005 that the scaffolding beneath the dome of the cathedral had been placed there since 1995 without restoration of the dome being completed, again giving rise to questions whether such restoration work was genuine.
Gallery
See also
External links
- by Procopius, Buildings , published in 561.
- - from the South Gallery of Hagia Sophia
- taken by Dick Osseman
- to Hagia Sophia
- Painting by Turkish painter Ismail Acar: , ,
- in Annali di architettura n° 14, Vicenza 2002
References
- Mainstone, Rowland J. . Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Structure, and Liturgy of Justinian's Great Church . W W Norton & Co Inc. ISBN 0-500-27945-4.
- Also known as, Mosque of Holy Wisdom.
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Notes
