The cathedral is located in the historical center of Istanbul in the Sultanahmet area. Today it is one of the symbols of the city and a museum.
Hagia Sophia is recognized as one of the greatest examples of Byzantine architecture surviving to this day, which is even sometimes called "the eighth wonder of the world."
According to the Russian scientist N.P. Kondakova, this temple “did more for the empire than many of its wars.” The Temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople became the pinnacle of Byzantine architecture and for many centuries determined the development of architecture in the countries of Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus.
The temple is one of the most ancient and majestic buildings related to the Christian religion. Hagia Sophia is considered the 4th museum in the world, equal in scale to such masterpieces as the Church of St. Paul in London, San Pietro in Rome and the Houses in Milan.
The name Sophia is usually interpreted as “wisdom”, although it has a much broader meaning. It can mean “mind”, “knowledge”, “skill”, “talent”, etc. Christ is often identified with Sophia in the sense of wisdom and intelligence. Thus Sophia represents the aspect of Jesus as the image of Divine Wisdom.
Sophia is not only a spiritual category, but also a popular female name. It was worn by the Christian Saint Sophia, who lived in the 2nd century - her memory is celebrated on May 15. The name Sofia is common in Greece, Romania and South Slavic countries. In Greece, there is also a male name Sophronios with a similar meaning - reasonable, wise.
Sophia - Numerous Orthodox churches are dedicated to the Wisdom of God, among which the most famous is Hagia Sophia in Constantinople - the main temple of the Byzantine Empire.
"Hagia Sophia"
The lamps were on, it was unclear
The language sounded, the great sheikh read
The Holy Koran - and the immense dome
He disappeared into the gloomy darkness.
Throwing a crooked saber over the crowd,
The sheikh raised his face, closed his eyes - and fear
Reigned in the crowd, and dead, blind
She was lying on the carpets...
And in the morning the temple was bright. Everything was silent
In humble and sacred silence,
And the sun brightly illuminated the dome
In an incomprehensible height.
And the doves in it, swarming, cooed,
And from above, from every window,
The vastness of the sky and the air called sweetly
To you, Love, to you, Spring!
Ivan Bunin
This is how Byzantine writes about the temple chronicler Procopius: “This temple is a most wonderful sight... It soars up to the very sky, standing out among other buildings, like a boat in the stormy waves of the open sea... It is all full of sunlight, it seems as if the temple itself is emitting this light.”
FOR MORE THAN 1000 YEARS, SOPHIA'S CATHEDRAL IN CONSTANTINOPLE REMAINED THE LARGEST TEMPLE IN THE CHRISTIAN WORLD (UNTIL THE CONSTRUCTION OF ST. PETER'S BATHDRAL IN ROME).
Its height is 55 meters, dome diameter is 31 meters, length is 81 meters, width is 72 meters. If you look at the temple from a bird's eye view, you can see that it is a cross measuring 70x50.
The most spectacular part of the structure is its dome. Its shape is close to a circle, with a diameter of almost 32 meters. For the first time, sails were used for its construction - curved triangular arches. The dome is supported by 4 supports, and itself is formed by 40 arches with windows cut into them. The light entering these windows creates the illusion that the dome is floating in the air. The interior space of the temple is divided into 3 parts - naves, using columns and pillars.
Experts conclude that the dome system of this ancient structure of such colossal dimensions, which still amazes experts and remains a true masterpiece of architectural thought. However, like the decoration of the cathedral itself. It has always been considered the most luxurious.
The interior decoration of the temple lasted for several centuries and was particularly luxurious - 107 columns made of malachite (according to legend from the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus) and Egyptian porphyry support the galleries surrounding the main nave. Mosaic on the golden floor. Mosaic completely covering the walls of the temple.
The central nave of the cathedral, the altar and the main dome
Tradition tells that the builders of the Temple of Sophia competed with their predecessors, who had once created the legendary Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, and when the Hagia Sophia was completed on the Nativity of Christ 537 and was consecrated, Emperor Justinian exclaimed: “Solomon, I have surpassed You.”
An angel shows Justinian a model of Hagia Sophia
Even for a modern person, the Church of Hagia Sophia makes a great impression. What can we say about the people of the Middle Ages! That is why many legends were associated with this temple. In particular, it was rumored that the plan of the building was handed to Emperor Justinian by the angels themselves while he was sleeping.
The Hagia Sophia is about a thousand years old, as are the frescoes on its walls and ceilings. These frescoes depict contemporaries of biblical events that took place at the turn of the first millennium, 10 centuries ago. The Hagia Sophia has been reconstructed since 1934.
Above the entrance you will see an icon of Our Lady of Blachernae with angels; the childhood of Christ is depicted in the exonarthex.
Mosaic image of the Virgin Mary in the apse
Emperors Constantine and Justinian before the Virgin Mary
Emperor Alexander
Archangel Gabriel (mosaic of the vault of the vima)
John Chrysostom
Mihrab located in the apse
When Constantinople was captured by Sultan Mehmed II (1453), the temple was converted into a mosque. 4 minarets were added, the interior decoration was greatly changed, the frescoes were covered with plaster, and the altar was moved. The St. Sophia Cathedral was renamed the Hagia Sophia Mosque.
After the Turkish conquest of Constantinople Sultan Mehmed Fatih in 1453, Ayia Sofia was converted into a mosque. Sultan Mehmed II Fatih (the Conqueror) renovated the building and built one minaret. The frescoes and mosaics were covered with a layer of plaster and were rediscovered only during restoration work. In numerous reconstructions carried out during the Ottoman period, Hagia Sophia was significantly strengthened, including through stabilizing minarets. Subsequently, additional minarets appeared (there were only 4 of them), a library at the mosque, a madrasah at the mosque (a Muslim educational institution that serves as a high school) and a shadirvan (a place for ritual ablution before prayer).
Since 1935, by order of the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Hagia Sophia became a museum, and mosaics and frescoes covered by the Ottomans were uncovered, but fascinating Islamic ornaments were left next to them. Therefore, now inside the museum you can observe an unimaginable mixture of Christian and Islamic symbols.
The Fall of Constantinople (painting by an unknown Venetian artist of the late 15th - early 16th centuries)
(formerly Constantinople) and saw a huge queue in front of the entrance to the temple - which means you are standing in front of the Sophia Cathedral of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) - the mother of all Orthodox Christian churches in the world.
Thanks to the Hagia Sophia, or rather, the impression it made on the Russian ambassadors sent to Byzantium by Prince Vladimir the Red Sun, Rus' may have become Christian in 988. According to legend, Russian ambassadors, having visited the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople, were so impressed by what they saw that they called this cathedral not just a magnificent temple, but a paradise. It is not surprising - the greatness of Hagia Sophia amazes the human imagination even today.
History of construction
The Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, now Istanbul, was rebuilt three times. The Russian ambassadors saw it approximately in the form in which it exists now. The first construction in 330 AD was started by Constantine the Great himself, the Emperor of Byzantium. In 360 it was completed, the temple was called “Megalo Eklesia” - Great Church. But in 404, unfortunately, it burned down in a fire. However, the Great Cathedral was not forgotten: a new, more stable church building was being built on the wooden foundation of the former grandiose structure, in which church services began on October 10, 416. In 532, the great temple again suffered from a bloody rebellion and was rebuilt again - by Emperor Justinian, in 532-537. It is precisely such a temple, built in 532-537, that rises like Mount Moses today in Istanbul.
It is called Hagia Sophia - the Church of Divine Wisdom and is considered one of the most important and most beautiful temples in the history of world architecture. And Orthodox Christians consider Hagia Sophia to be the main cathedral of Christianity, the Mother of all Orthodox cathedrals.
In world architectural circles, Hagia Sophia occupies an honorable fourth place in the world among museums equal to it in scale. Here is a list of them: St. Paul's Church in London; San Pietro in Rome; Houses in Milan.
But how can they be compared?! All these temples, holy places are at least a thousand years younger than St. Sophia Cathedral!
The Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople received its second name - Hagia Sophia - as one of three epithets that are used when addressing God: Hagia Sophia - Holy Wisdom, Aya Irene - Holy Compassion, Aya Dynamis - Holy Power.
If you carefully analyze the history of the construction of the main cathedral of Istanbul, you can find the most interesting facts.
The Temple of Hagia Sophia is truly a collector and collector of antiquities: many ancient architectural monuments of great Rome and ancient Greece were continued in it: the corrugated columns of Hagia Sophia - from the Aurelian Temple of the Sun in Rome; green marble columns - from the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus; green granite columns - from the Ephesus port gymnasium; red porphyry columns - from the Sanctuary of Apollo in Baalbek (modern Lebanon); marble slabs of Hagia Sophia - from reserves of this stone in Anatolia, from ancient quarries of Thessaly, Laconia, Caria and Numidia. And the marble that was brought for the temple from Pentelikon (near ancient Athens) is the same as the one from which the Parthenon (Temple of Athena) in the Acropolis was built 10 centuries before the great Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople.
There are several other legends associated with the construction of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. According to them, lime for the construction of the temple was diluted with barley water, olive oil was added to the mortar for laying stones, and for the patriarchal throne, precious stones were added to the molten gold - rubies, topazes, onyxes, sapphires, amethysts and pearls. Construction costs were enormous and amounted to three annual incomes of the Byzantine state - approximately 320 thousand pounds of gold, i.e. about 130 tons.
Emperor Justinian on Christmas Day - December 26, 537 (which became the opening day of the temple), raising his hands to the sky, exclaimed: “Glory to God, who gave me the opportunity to complete this construction. I have surpassed you, Solomon!” Obviously, Justinian compared the temple of Hagia Sophia, built on his orders, with the biblical temple of Solomon, and he compared Constantinople with Jerusalem and called it nothing less than New Jerusalem.
The third, (current) Sophia, rebuilt by Justinian, was for 916 (almost a thousand) years the Christian cathedral of Constantinople, the main temple of the Byzantine Empire and the entire Orthodox world. But after the conquest of Byzantium by the Ottomans, the great St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople was turned into a mosque for almost five hundred (481) years. Only in 1935, by decree of Ataturk, the first Turkish President, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was given the status of a museum.
For those who enter this sacred temple for the first time, the experience becomes unforgettable: it is so huge and powerful that it takes your breath away, and the natural daylight from the many windows of the cathedral makes it seem to be floating in the sky, because of this, even the walls of the temple seem transparent! Confirmation of the above are the magnificent words about Hagia Sophia: “The dome is tied to the heavens on a chain...”
The central Imperial Doors (Gates) of the Cathedral are made, according to legend, from the remains of Noah's Ark. Only the Emperor entered Sofia through them. Adjacent entrances were intended for other visitors. On both sides of the Imperial Doors, deep dents are visible in the marble floor slabs, caused by the feet of the Imperial Guards who stood at these doors for hundreds of years. In such historical places you truly feel the breath of time...
Sofia Mosque
The consequences of the transformation of Hagia Sophia into the Muslim Sophia Mosque are indicated by changes in the interior of the temple - four huge round camel skin shields suspended under the dome. The inscriptions on these shields are sayings from the Koran, as well as the names of the first caliphs (spiritual leaders of Islam).
Ataturk, the first President of Turkey, a great reformer, having turned Sofia from a mosque into a museum, ordered the shields to be removed from the walls of the Orthodox church, which was done. However, immediately after his death, in 1938, they were returned to their original place.
Another evidence of the transformation of the St. Sophia Cathedral into a mosque is that Muslims built a prayer niche - a mihrab - in the altar apse of the temple. Next to the mihrab is the Sultan's box, opposite is the Imam's place for reading prayers.
There are other little things inherent in the attributes of Muslim mosques - jugs for ablutions (not far from the entrance). In the southern gallery of the temple there is a place for a Muslim library (bronze cage, eighteenth century). But the main evidence of attempts to transform the Great Temple into the Sofia Mosque is four minarets and a crescent above the dome. I would like to note that all these transformations did not become one with Hagia Sophia, they remained “foreign bodies”, “alien inclusions” on this great Christian shrine.
The last liturgy in the St. Sophia Cathedral of Constantinople began on the evening of May 28, 1453 and lasted all night. In the morning, breaking down the doors, the Janissaries burst into the temple, but the Orthodox priest with a cup in his hands somehow miraculously disappeared...
During excursions in the temple, you can often hear from the lips of guides the story that supposedly Mehmed the Conqueror, having entered the temple on a horse, involuntarily leaned against the wall with his bloody hand (his horse slipped on the blood-stained floor slabs). As a confirmation of this event, as a rule, a stain is always shown - a palm print on the wall of the temple, next to the altar.
Don't believe it. The traveler's assistant is sure that this did not happen. Of course, the floor of the Temple that morning was indeed covered in blood, but Mehmed the Conqueror did not enter the St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople, but entered, dismounting and sprinkling his turban with roadside dust - as a sign of humility before Hagia Sophia and her divine power...
St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul (Türkiye) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.
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The monumental building surrounded by four slender minarets is the center of attraction for all tourists arriving in Istanbul. For 1500 years, Hagia Sophia has been amazing with its architecture, magnificent mosaics and the easily perceptible aura of a place of power. On its walls, symbols of Christianity side by side with Arabic script, not mixing, but mutually complementing each other. There are few such historical buildings in the world that have preserved their luxurious decoration, despite the complex vicissitudes of an extraordinary fate.
A little history
The Cathedral of St. Sophia was built on a hill where the sanctuary of Artemis was located until 360. They say that in the 6th century, an angel appeared to Emperor Justinian with a model of a grandiose temple in his hands. To implement the project, columns were brought to Byzantium from Ephesus and Lebanon, and the altar was decorated with rubies, amethysts and pearls. The incredible luxury convinced the Russian ambassadors of the truth of the Orthodox faith, and they recommended that Prince Vladimir accept it. However, in 1453 Constantinople fell, Sultan Mehmet rode into the temple on horseback and ordered the building to be rebuilt into a mosque. The imprint of his bloody hand is still visible on the wall near the altar.
The Turks erected minarets, whitewashed the mosaics, and covered the walls with camel skins with suras from the Koran inscribed in gold. For many 500 years, Hagia Sophia became the largest Muslim shrine after the Kaaba. Only in 1935, Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern secular Turkey, converted it into a museum by a special decree.
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Architecture and interior
The main volume of the St. Sophia Cathedral under a huge dome 51 m high forms a cross, that is, the intersection of the main and additional halls in the form of a cross. This layout became mandatory for Christian churches for several centuries. At the corners of the central nave there are powerful columns on which the arches of the vault rest. Its diameter is 31 m; windows are cut in the lower part, creating the illusion of the entire structure floating in the air.
From the mosaics in the interior one can study the evolution of Byzantine art over several centuries. The image of the Virgin Mary sitting on the throne in the apse is striking in its humanity and spirituality. Above the entrance to the temple there is Jesus Christ blessing the pilgrims, and in front of him the kneeling emperor.
After converting the cathedral into a mosque, Muslims built a carved marble minbar, a pulpit from which the mullah addresses the faithful. It is not located on the site of the altar, but is shifted to the southeast so that worshipers face Mecca. A surprise for the restorers was the discovery of runic inscriptions left on the steps and parapets by the Varangians of the Byzantine guard.
There was a long line at one of the columns. It is said that accidentally touching it cured Emperor Justinian of a continuous headache. It is believed that if you lean your forehead against a stone, think of a wish, insert your finger into the hole and turn it clockwise, your wish will certainly come true.
Practical information
Address: Istanbul, Cankurtaran Mh., Soguk Cesme Sk 14-36. Website (in English).
How to get there: by tram T1 or bus TV2 to the stop. Sultanahmet.
Opening hours: daily from 15.04 to 30.10 from 9:00 to 19:00, from 30.10 to 15.04 from 9:00 to 15:00. Visiting hours to the museum are limited during the first days of Ramadan and Kurban Bayram holidays. Audio guides in Russian are sold at the entrance.
Ticket price: 72 TRY. Prices on the page are as of November 2019.
The hallmark of Istanbul, like the Eiffel Tower of Paris, is the Hagia Sophia Mosque, currently converted into a museum. For a long time, more than 1000 years, it was the largest Christian temple, until St. Peter's Cathedral appeared in Rome in 1926.
1. The temple burned down completely... twice
This Orthodox temple was founded in 330 in Constantinople by Emperor Constantine the Great, but 75 years later it was destroyed in a fire. In 415, the church was rebuilt, and in 532, during the Nika popular uprising, it burned down again.
2. Emperor Justinian reconstructed the temple
Beginning in 527, Constantinople was ruled for 38 years by Emperor Justinian, who did a lot for the flourishing of Byzantium. By his order, five years after the Nika uprising, the church was rebuilt.
3. The temple changed its name several times
During Byzantine times, this Orthodox cathedral was called the Great Sophia because of its enormous size or Hagia Sophia. But after the capture of the capital of Byzantium by the Turks in 1453, the cathedral was turned into an Ottoman mosque called Hagia Sophia. Today, this is the world famous museum of Byzantine architecture Hagia Sophia - the most visited attraction not only in Istanbul, but throughout Turkey.
4. In 558 the dome had to be replaced
One of the decorations of the cathedral was the central dome, 160 feet high and 131 feet in diameter, but it was destroyed as a result of the earthquake of 558. In 562 the dome was restored. It became even taller, and to strengthen it, several smaller domes were installed, as well as a gallery and four large arches.
5. Hagia Sophia and Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
Expensive building materials, as well as surviving fragments of ancient buildings, were brought to Constantinople from different parts of the empire. Thus, columns brought from the destroyed Temple of Artemis in Ephesus were used to strengthen and decorate the interior of the church.
6. Canon of Byzantine art
In Byzantium they tried to preserve centuries-old Roman and Hellenistic traditions in art, architecture, and literature. The Byzantine ruler Justinian, spearheading a series of urban reconstruction projects after the Nika Revolt, began with the Hagia Sophia. The new cathedral fully met the canons of the Byzantine style, it was luxurious and magnificent - a huge dome on a rectangular basilica, rich mosaics, stone inlays, marble columns, bronze doors. The cathedral fully complied with the canons of the Byzantine style.
7. The fight against idolatry and Hagia Sophia
During the period of the fight against idolatry (approximately 726-787 and 815-843), the production and use of icons and religious images was prohibited, and only the cross was allowed as the only acceptable symbol. In this regard, many mosaics and paintings in Hagia Sophia were destroyed by iconoclasts, taken away or covered with plaster.
8. Enrico Dendolo sacked Hagia Sophia
During the Fourth Crusade against Byzantium, during the siege of Constantinople, the famous and influential 90-year-old Doge of Venice, Enrico Dendolo, being blind, defeated the Orthodox Christians. The city and the church were plundered, many gold mosaics were taken to Italy. Dendolo, after his death in 1205, was buried in Hagia Sophia.
9. The Byzantine temple was a mosque for 500 years
Centuries of conquests, sieges, raids, and crusades led in 1453 to the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire. The city was renamed Istanbul, the Byzantine cathedral was to be destroyed, but Sultan Mehmed II, admiring its beauty, ordered the cathedral to be converted into a mosque.
10. Islamic elements in the temple
In order to use the church as a mosque, the Sultan ordered the construction of a prayer hall, a pulpit-minbar for the preacher and a stone bath-font. Also attached to it were several minarets, a school, a kitchen, a library, mausoleums and a sultan’s box.
11. Byzantine mosaics were saved by Mehmed II
Instead of destroying the numerous frescoes and mosaics on the walls of Hagia Sophia, Mehmed II ordered them to be covered with plaster, on which Islamic drawings and calligraphy were applied on top. Subsequently, many of the original frescoes and mosaics were restored by the Swiss-Italian architects Gaspar and Giuseppe Fossati.
12. The healing power of the “Crying” Column
The “crying” column is located in the northwestern part of the church, to the left of the entrance, and is one of the 107 columns of the building. It is also called the “column of desires”, “sweating”, “wet”. The column is covered with copper, and has a hole in the middle that is wet to the touch. Many believers seek to touch it in search of divine healing.
BONUS
Kemal Ataturk turned Hagia Sophia into a museum
Former officer Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president and founder of the modern Turkish state, who had a rather cool attitude towards religion, decided to organize a museum in the Hagia Sophia temple, and in 1935 this was done.
It's hard to remain indifferent when looking at. This is simply great!
This grandiose architectural structure on the shores of the Bosphorus every year attracts many tourists and pilgrims from many countries and from different continents. They are driven by the awareness of the fact that a simple description of the Temple in Constantinople from a school history textbook does not give a complete picture of this outstanding cultural monument of the ancient world. You need to see it with your own eyes at least once in your life.
From the history of the ancient world
Even the most detailed description of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople will not provide a complete picture of this architectural phenomenon. Without a consistent consideration of the series of historical eras through which he happened to pass, it is unlikely that it will be possible to realize the full importance of this place. Before it appeared before our eyes in the state in which modern tourists can see it, a lot of water has passed under the bridge.
This cathedral was originally built as the highest spiritual symbol of Byzantium, a new Christian power that arose from the ruins of ancient Rome in the fourth century AD. But the history of the Temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople began even before the collapse of the Roman Empire into the western and eastern parts. This city itself, located on a strategically important border between Europe and Asia, needed a bright symbol of spiritual and civilizational greatness. Emperor Constantine I the Great understood this like no one else. And it was only in the power of the monarch to begin the construction of this grandiose structure, which had no analogues in the ancient world.
The founding date of the temple is forever associated with the name and period of the reign of this emperor. Even though the actual authors of the council were other people who lived much later, during the reign of Emperor Justinian. From historical sources we know two names of these major architects of their era. These are the Greek architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus. They are the authors of both the engineering, construction and artistic parts of a single architectural project.
How the temple was built
The description of the Temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the study of its architectural features and stages of construction inevitably leads to the idea that the original plan for its construction changed significantly under the influence of various political and economic circumstances. There had never been structures of this scale in the Roman Empire before.
Historical sources claim that the founding date of the cathedral is 324 AD. But what we see today began to be built about two centuries after this date. From the buildings of the fourth century, the founder of which was Constantine I the Great, only foundations and individual architectural fragments have now been preserved. What stood on the site of the modern Hagia Sophia was called the Basilica of Constantine and the Basilica of Theodosius. Emperor Justinian, who ruled in the mid-sixth century, was faced with the task of erecting something new and hitherto unprecedented.
What is truly amazing is the fact that the grandiose construction of the cathedral lasted only five years, from 532 to 537. More than ten thousand workers, mobilized from all over the empire, worked simultaneously on construction. For this purpose, the best varieties of marble from Greece were delivered to the shores of the Bosphorus in the required quantities. Emperor Justinian did not spare funds for construction, since he was erecting not just a symbol of the state greatness of the Eastern Roman Empire, but also a Temple to the glory of God. He was supposed to bring the light of Christian teaching to the whole world.
From historical sources
A description of the Temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople can be found in the early historical chronicles of the Byzantine court chroniclers. It is clear from them that contemporaries were left with an indelible impression by the grandeur and grandeur of this structure.
Many believed that it was absolutely impossible to build such a cathedral without the direct intervention of divine powers. The main dome of the greatest Christian world was visible from afar to all sailors in the Sea of Marmara approaching the Bosphorus Strait. It served as a kind of beacon, and this also had a spiritual and symbolic meaning. This was what was planned from the beginning: Byzantine churches were supposed to eclipse in their grandeur everything that was built before them.
Cathedral interior
The general composition of the temple space is subject to the laws of symmetry. This principle was the most important even in ancient temple architecture. But in terms of its volume and level of interior execution, the Temple of Sophia in Constantinople significantly surpasses everything that was built before it. This is precisely the task that Emperor Justinian set before the architects and builders. By his will, ready-made columns and other architectural elements taken from pre-existing ancient structures were delivered from many cities of the empire to decorate the temple. The dome completion was particularly difficult.
The grandiose main dome was supported by an arched colonnade with forty window openings, which provided overhead illumination of the entire temple space. The altar part of the cathedral was finished with special care; a significant amount of gold, silver and ivory was spent on its decoration. According to the testimony of Byzantine historiographers and the estimates of modern experts, Emperor Justinian spent several of his country’s annual budgets on the interior of the cathedral alone. In his ambitions, he wanted to surpass the Old Testament King Solomon, who erected the Temple in Jerusalem. These words of the emperor were recorded by court chroniclers. And there is every reason to believe that Emperor Justinian managed to fulfill his intention.
Byzantine style
St. Sophia Cathedral, photos of which currently adorn the advertising products of many travel agencies, is a classic embodiment of the imperial in architecture. This style is easily recognizable. With its monumental grandeur, it certainly goes back to the best traditions of imperial Rome and Greek antiquity, but it is simply impossible to confuse this architecture with something else.
Byzantine temples can easily be found at a considerable distance from historical Byzantium. This direction of temple architecture is still the predominant architectural style throughout the entire territory, which was historically dominated by the Orthodox branch of world Christianity.
These structures are characterized by massive domed tops above the central part of the building and arched colonnades below them. The architectural features of this style have been developed over centuries and have become an integral part of Russian temple architecture. Today, not everyone even realizes that its source is on the shores of the Bosphorus Strait.
Unique mosaics
Icons and mosaic frescoes from the walls of Hagia Sophia have become internationally recognized classics of fine art. In their compositional structures, the Roman and Greek canons of monumental painting are easily visible.
The frescoes of Hagia Sophia were created over two centuries. Several generations of masters and many icon painting schools worked on them. The mosaic technique itself has a much more complex technology compared to traditional tempera painting on wet plaster. All elements of mosaic frescoes were created by masters according to rules known only to them, into which the uninitiated were not allowed. It was both slow and very expensive, but the Byzantine emperors spared no expense on the interior of the Hagia Sophia. The masters had nowhere to rush, because what they created had to survive many centuries. The height of the walls and roofing elements of the cathedral created a particular difficulty in creating mosaic frescoes.
The viewer was forced to see the figures of saints in a complex perspective reduction. Byzantine icon painters were the first in the history of world fine art who had to take this factor into account. No one had had such experience before. And they coped with the task with dignity, this can be testified today by many thousands of tourists and pilgrims who annually visit the St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul.
During the long period of Ottoman rule, the Byzantine mosaics on the walls of the temple were covered with a layer of plaster. But after restoration work carried out in the thirties of the twentieth century, they appeared in almost their original form. And today, visitors to the Hagia Sophia can observe Byzantine frescoes with images of Christ and the Virgin Mary interspersed with calligraphic quotes from suras from the Koran.
The restorers also treated the heritage of the Islamic period in the history of the cathedral with respect. It is also interesting to note the fact that icon painters gave some Orthodox saints on mosaic frescoes a portrait resemblance to the ruling monarchs and other influential people of their era. In subsequent centuries, this practice would become common in the construction of cathedrals in the largest cities of medieval Europe.
Cathedral vaults
The St. Sophia Cathedral, photos of which are taken away by tourists from the shores of the Bosphorus, acquired its characteristic silhouette not least thanks to its grandiose domed top. The dome itself has a relatively small height with an impressive diameter. This ratio of proportions will later be included in the architectural canon of the Byzantine style. Its height from the foundation level is 51 meters. It will be surpassed in size only during the Renaissance, with the construction of the famous one in Rome.
Particular expressiveness of the vault of the St. Sophia Cathedral is given by two domed hemispheres located on the west and east of the main dome. With their outlines and architectural elements they repeat it and, as a whole, create a single composition of the cathedral vault.
All these architectural discoveries of ancient Byzantium were subsequently used many times in temple architecture, in the construction of cathedrals in the cities of medieval Europe, and then throughout the world. In Russia, the dome of the Hagia Sophia was very clearly reflected in the architectural appearance of Kronstadt. Like the famous temple on the shores of the Bosphorus Strait, it was supposed to be visible from the sea to all sailors approaching the capital, thereby symbolizing the greatness of the empire.
End of Byzantium
As you know, any empire reaches its peak, and then moves towards degradation and decline. This fate did not escape Byzantium either. The Eastern Roman Empire collapsed in the mid-fifteenth century under the weight of its own internal contradictions and under the growing onslaught of external enemies. The last Christian service in the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople took place on May 29. This day was the last for the capital of Byzantium itself. The empire that existed for almost a thousand years was defeated on this day under the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks. Constantinople also ceased to exist. Now this is the city of Istanbul, for several centuries it was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The conquerors of the city burst into the temple at the time of the service, brutally dealt with those there, and mercilessly plundered the treasures of the cathedral. But the Ottoman Turks did not intend to destroy the building itself - the Christian temple was destined to become a mosque. And this circumstance could not but affect the appearance of the Byzantine cathedral.
Dome and minarets
During the Ottoman Empire, the appearance of the Hagia Sophia underwent significant changes. The city of Istanbul was supposed to have a cathedral mosque corresponding to its capital status. The temple building that existed in the fifteenth century did not correspond perfectly to this purpose. Prayers in a mosque should be performed in the direction of Mecca, while an Orthodox church is oriented with the altar to the east. The Ottoman Turks reconstructed the temple they inherited - they added rough buttresses to the historical building to strengthen the load-bearing walls and built four large minarets in accordance with the canons of Islam. The Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul became known as the Hagia Sophia Mosque. A mihrab was built in the south-eastern part of the interior, thus the praying Muslims had to be positioned at an angle to the axis of the building, leaving the altar part of the temple on the left.
In addition, the walls of the cathedral with icons were plastered. But this is precisely what made it possible to restore the authentic paintings of the temple walls in the nineteenth century. They were well preserved under a layer of medieval plaster. The St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul is also unique in that the heritage of two great cultures and two world religions - Orthodox Christianity and Islam - are intricately intertwined in its external appearance and internal content.
Hagia Sophia Museum
In 1935, the building of the Hagia Sophia mosque was removed from the category of places of worship. This required a special decree from Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. This progressive step made it possible to put an end to the claims of representatives of different religions and denominations to the historical building. The leader of Turkey was also able to indicate his distance from various clerical circles.
The state budget financed and carried out restoration work on the historical building and the area around it. The necessary infrastructure has been equipped to receive a large flow of tourists from different countries. Currently, the St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul is one of the most important cultural and historical attractions in Turkey. In 1985, the temple was included in the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage as one of the most significant material objects in the history of the development of human civilization. Getting to this attraction in the city of Istanbul is very easy - it is located in the prestigious Sultanahmet area and is visible from afar.