Hagia Sophia “Aghia Sophia” redirects here. For the steamship, see mosque. By that point, the church had fallen into a state SS Aghia Sophia. For other uses, see Hagia Sophia of disrepair. Nevertheless, the Christian cathedral made (disambiguation). a strong impression on the new Ottoman rulers and they decided to convert it into a mosque.[9][10] The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels and other relics were Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία,"Holy removed and the mosaics depicting Jesus, his Mother Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Christian patriarchal Mary, Christian saints and angels were also removed or basilica (church), later an imperial mosque, and now a plastered over. Islamic features—such as the mihrab, museum (Ayasofya Müzesi) in Istanbul, Turkey. From minbar, and four minarets—were added. It remained a the date of its construction in 537 until 1453, it served as mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for an Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarch of Con- four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the stantinople,[1] except between 1204 and 1261, when it Republic of Turkey. Hagia Sophia is currently (2014) the second-most visited museum in Turkey, attracting almost was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the [11] Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 3.3 million visitors annually. 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a From its initial conversion until the construction of the museum on 1 February 1935.[2] nearby Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque of Istan- Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered bul) in 1616, it was the principal mosque of Istanbul. the epitome of Byzantine architecture[3] and is said to The Byzantine architecture of the Hagia Sophia served have “changed the history of architecture”.[4] It remained as inspiration for many other Ottoman mosques, such as the world’s largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, the Blue Mosque, the Şehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The cur- Mosque, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque and the Kılıç Ali Paşa Mosque. rent building was originally constructed as a church be- tween 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Em- peror Justinian I and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both 1 History been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.[5] 1.1 First church The church was dedicated to the Wisdom of God, the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity,[6] The first church on the site was known as the Μεγάλη its patronal feast taking place on 25 December, the Ἐκκλησία (Megálē Ekklēsíā, “Great Church”), or in commemoration of the birth of the incarnation of the Lo- Latin “Magna Ecclesia”,[12][13] because of its larger di- gos in Christ.[6] Although sometimes referred to as Sancta mensions in comparison to the contemporary churches in Sophia (as though it were named after Saint Sophia), the City.[6] Inaugurated on 15 February 360 (during the sophia being the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek reign of Constantius II) by the Arian bishop Eudoxius of word for wisdom, its full name in Greek is Ναός τῆς Antioch,[14] it was built next to the area where the im- Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, “Shrine of the Holy Wisdom perial palace was being developed. The nearby Hagia of God”.[7][8] Eirene (“Holy Peace”) church was completed earlier and served as cathedral until the Great Church was com- The church contained a large collection of holy relics and pleted. Both churches acted together as the principal featured, among other things, a 15-metre (49 ft) silver churches of the Byzantine Empire. iconostasis. The focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years, the building wit- Writing in 440, Socrates of Constantinople claimed that nessed the excommunication of Patriarch Michael I Ceru- the church was built by Constantius II, who was work- larius on the part of Humbert of Silva Candida, the papal ing on it in 346.[14] A tradition which is not older than envoy of Pope Leo IX in 1054, an act which is commonly the 7th – 8th century, reports that the edifice was built considered the start of the Great Schism. by Constantine the Great.[14] Zonaras reconciles the two opinions, writing that Constantius had repaired the edi- In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman fice consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia, after it had Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, who ordered this collapsed.[14] Since Eusebius was bishop of Constantino- main church of Orthodox Christianity converted into a ple from 339 to 341, and Constantine died in 337, it 1 2 1 HISTORY seems possible that the first church was erected by the and Ephesus is a later invention.[15] Even though they latter.[14] The edifice was built as a traditional Latin were made specifically for Hagia Sophia, the columns colonnaded basilica with galleries and a wooden roof. It show variations in size.[16] More than ten thousand people was preceded by an atrium. It was claimed to be one of were employed. This new church was contemporaneously the world’s most outstanding monuments at the time. recognized as a major work of architecture. The theories The Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom came of Heron of Alexandria may have been utilized to address into a conflict with Empress Aelia Eudoxia, wife of the the challenges presented by building such an expansive emperor Arcadius, and was sent into exile on 20 June 404. dome over so large a space. The emperor, together with the Patriarch Menas, inaugurated the new basilica on 27 During the subsequent riots, this first church was largely burned down.[14] Nothing remains of the first church to- December 537 – 5 years and 10 months after construction start – with much pomp.[17][18][19] The mosaics inside the day. church were, however, only completed under the reign of Emperor Justin II (565–578). 1.2 Second church Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for Byzantine A second church was ordered by Theodosius II, who inau- imperial ceremonies, such as coronations. Like other gurated it on 10 October 415. The basilica with a wooden churches throughout Christendom, the basilica offered roof was built by architect Rufinus. A fire started during sanctuary from persecution to outlaws. the tumult of the Nika Revolt and burned the second Ha- gia Sophia to the ground on 13–14 January 532. Earthquakes in August 553 and on 14 December 557 caused cracks in the main dome and eastern half-dome. Several marble blocks from the second church survive to The main dome collapsed completely during a subsequent the present; among them are reliefs depicting 12 lambs earthquake on 7 May 558,[20] destroying the ambon, al- representing the 12 apostles. Originally part of a mon- tar, and ciborium. The crash was due mainly to the too umental front entrance, they now reside in an excavation high bearing load and to the enormous shearing load of pit adjacent to the museum’s entrance after they were dis- the dome, which was too flat.[17] These caused the de- covered in 1935 beneath the western courtyard by A. M. formation of the piers which sustained the dome.[17] The Schneider. Further digging was forsaken for fear of im- emperor ordered an immediate restoration. He entrusted pinging on the integrity of the building. it to Isidorus the Younger, nephew of Isidore of Mile- tus, who used lighter materials and elevated the dome [17] 1.3 Third church (current structure) by “30 feet” (about 6.25 meters or 20.5 feet) – giv- ing the building its current interior height of 55.6 meters (182 ft).[21] Moreover, Isidorus changed the dome type, On 23 February 532, only a few weeks after the destruc- erecting a ribbed dome with pendentives, whose diame- tion of the second basilica, Emperor Justinian I decided ter lay between 32.7 and 33.5 m.[17] Under Justinian’s or- to build a third and entirely different basilica, larger and ders, eight Corinthian columns were disassembled from more majestic than its predecessors. Baalbek, Lebanon, and shipped to Constantinople around 560.[22] This reconstruction, giving the church its present 6th-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 De- cember 562. 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 stat- ues were removed from the Hagia Sophia. After a brief Construction of church depicted in codex Manasses Chronicle (14th century) reprieve under Empress Irene (797–802), the iconoclasts made a comeback. Emperor Theophilus (829–842) was [23] Justinian chose physicist Isidore of Miletus and mathe- strongly influenced by Islamic art, which forbids the [24] matician Anthemius of Tralles as architects; Anthemius, representation of living beings. He had a two-winged however, died within the first year of the endeavor. bronze door with his monograms installed at the southern The construction is described in the Byzantine historian entrance of the church. Procopius' On Buildings (Peri ktismatōn, Latin: De aedi- The basilica suffered damage, first in a great fire in 859, ficiis).