Hagia Sophia, which was accepted as
the greatest and most sacred piece of the city during the
Byzantine age, is today a museum that the visitors admire as an
unrivaled architectural masterpiece. Hagia Sophia is a Roman
monument constructed in the Byzantine Age. Despite the new
techniques and inventions in architecture during the 800 years
period from the construction of the church till the demolition
of the Empire, no other building could be constaicted to surpass
Hagia Sophia.
Hagia Sophia, which was used as a church for 916
years since the date it was constructed (537), until the date
when Istanbul was conquered. As of this date until the year of
1934, served the Moslems as a mosque for 481 years. After an
extended restoration with the instruction given by the founder
of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatlirk, in order to
bring the Byzantine mosaics which were coated with stucco in
1750 into daylight,
the building was opened to the visitors as a museum in February
1935 and it is the 3rd museum which is most visited in Turkey.
The name Hagia Sophia, is one of the 3 adjectives dedicated to
the God in Christianity. These 3 adjectives are defined as Hagia
Sophia (Divine Wisdom), Hagia Irene (Divine Peace) and Hagia
Dynamis (Divine Power).
HISTORY
In 360, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine had a great structure
named Megalo Ekklesia' (the Great Church), constructed in the
city center, where Hagia Sophia is standing today. Between the
years of 404 - 4l6, a bigger and more lasting church was
constructed by the architect Ruffinos on the foundations of this
wooden building, which was completely burnt during a fire on
June 20th, 404 and it was opened for the public on October 10th,
4l6. The financier of this second church, with 3 naved basilica
design, was Emperor Theodosius. The foundation walls, stairs and
the sheep designed pediment friezes of the building just in
front of Hagia Sophia are seen at the entrance of the museum.
They were irreparably destroyed by the rebels against the
Emperor during the sanguinary Nika (Victory) revolt, which began
on January 13th and 14th, 532.
After the Nika revolt, Emperor Justinian, who met his throne
again, had the present church constructed. He gave the task of
constructing this church to the two most famous Anatolian
architects of the time, mathematician Anthemius of Tralles
(today's Ay dm city) and Isidorus from Miletus.
The best construction material and the best masons were brought
to the city from all over the country, and for the 5 years, over
100 masters and 10.000 laborers worked in the construction.
The marble used for the inner decoration of the church were
transported from all the Mediterranean countries, and especially
from the marble quarries in Anatolia. The four green granite
columns on both sides of the nave were brought from the Harbor
Gymnasium in Ephesus, the pairs of porphyry columns at the
corners were brought from the Apollon Temple in Baalbek (in
Lebanon today). Special tiles and bricks were brought from the
Island of Rhodes in order to
built the giant dome with lighter material. A total sum of 107
columns were used in the building and 40 of them are in the
nave, the rest 67 in the galleries upstairs.
In the Iconoclastic Era that started in 726, the mosaics
concerning the religious scenes and holy personalities of all
churches together with Hagia Sophia's were destroyed and simple
cross shapes were decorated instead. With the end of this era in
843, religious pictures were allowed again and Hagia Sophia was
redecorated with frescoe and mosaics, generally ordered by the
emperors. During the Latin invasion in 1204, the treasury was
plundered by the Crusaders. The mosaics with gold colored
background were ruined to a large extend. In this period, Hagia
Sophia was used as the Catholic Master Church. When the Latin
invaders abandoned the city in 1261, the church came into use as
an Orthodox church again. Hagia Sophia was damaged badly because
of the earthquakes in 14th and 15th centuries and it was
neglected.
Following the conquest, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, performed the
Friday service in Hagia Sophia on 3rd of June, 1453- He reserved
the necessary fund to restore and save the building. Hagia
Sophia was converted into a mosque. With this fund, first a
niche was constructed in the Kaaba direction, then a brick
minaret and a madrasah with 12 rooms. A courtyard and a cistern
in place of the chamber, where the rooms of the clergy used to
be, were constructed outside in front of the building. The
mosaics were covered with thin lime; the cross shapes on the
wall were engraved, and vertical sides of the cross shapes on
the doors were extracted; by this way, without giving much
damage to the building, the place was made suitable for the
Moslem service. The most extended restoration carried out in
Hagia Sophia inthe Ottoman times was the one made by the Swedish
Gaspare and Trajano FOSSATI brothers between the years of 1847
and 1849- The architects, who came to Istanbul in 1837 in order
to repair the Russian Embassy, in respect with the wish of the
Ottoman administration, reinforced the dome of Hagia Sophia with
2 chains, adjusted 12 inclined columns, fixed the madrasah,
which was destroyed in 1479 and built the cloakroom in the
garden. The sultan's lodge inside the nave is the work of the
same people.
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS
Hagia Sophia, which suits the '3 nave domed basilica'
description as an architectural design, is the first
construction of this type. Hagia Sophia is also the construction
where the 'pendentives' decorated with the drawings of Cherubim
angels, from the 14th century, were used for the first time. The
55.6 m. high dome is one of the 5 highest domes not only in
Istanbul and in Turkey, but also in the whole world. After the
earthquake in 553, the dome was 6.5 m. heightened and
reconstructed between the years of 558 -562. Since it could not
be built round, it has an ellipse shape and the diameter is 31
m. on one axis and 33 m. on the other. The main area of this
total 100 m. long and 7.570 m2 large construction is 75 m. to 70
m. The narthex that is located just at the entrance is around 60
m. long, 11 m. wide.
NARTHEXES
There is no ornamentation on the walls and ceiling of this part,
which is the preparation place before praying. A few panels of
mosaics, which were brought here from various constructions, one
tomb brought from Zeyrek and high relief panels of the
resolutions decided in the consul held in the 12th century can
be seen here. There are 9 cross shaped arcades on the ceiling
which is in a very bad condition because of humidity.
On the inner cornices of the door that provides the passage from
the outer narthex to the inner narthex, MDCCCXLVII is written;
the date of 1847 with roman figures. Furthermore, the crosses,
whose horizontal axles were extracted in the Ottoman Period, can
also be seen on the door folds. The amazingly beautiful
ornaments of the construction begin as of the inner narthex. By
placing colourful marble panels symmetrically on the wall, the
lines of the stones create mystic figures. The ceilings of this
part are completely covered with golden mosaics. A 16.000 m2
area within the construction is decorated with marble paving
called Tesserae, and colourful stone pieces.
This area is more than two times the total area of the church
itself.
There are 9 doors for the passage from the inner narthex to the
main residence. 3 of these doors, placed on either side, were
for public use. The big door in the very center belonged to the
Emperor, and the relatively lower entrances were for the high
ranking officials and directors and the escorts, accompanied the
emperor. The golden plating of the Emperor's door and the silver
plating of the two doors on both sides of it were taken off
during the Latin invasion. Above the Emperor's door, there is a
mosaic dated as the 9th century with Jesus Christ in the middle,
and in the medallions on the left and right side of it, there
are Virgin Mary and Arc Angel Gabriel.
NAVE
Entering the nave from the inner narthex, the first thing that
draws the attention is the magnificence of the dome that looks
as if it is an independent piece from the church itself. In the
center of the dome, around which there are 40 windows, was the
painting of Jesus Christ from the Byzantine period. After the
conquest, the painting was covered with verses of the Koran. On
the triangular pendentives which carries the dome and placed
between the arches at four corners, there is the pictures of
Cherubim angels with 3 wings. The faces" of the angels, that are
11 m. long, are in lion, bull, eagle and angel shapes, and each
one is covered with one polygonal star.
The portrayals of Ignatios, patriarch of Constantinople in 9th
century, 4th century patriarch, John Crysostom, and the
patriarch of Antiochia (Antakya today) of 2nd century, Ignatios
Theophoros are seen on the side wall under the windows to the
left of the entrance. The 1.250 It. giant marble containers,
placed on the left and right side of the entrance are brought
from the ancient city of Pergamon in 16th century. The
rectangular marble column placed just at the beginning of the
left isle, is named as the 'crying column' or 'sweating column'.
It is believed that if you insert your thumb in the hole on the
column a little bit damp inside and make one complete circle,
the wish comes true.
The Arabic written huge plates on the side walls and the
corners, have the names of the leading personalities of Islam.
On the right side of the niche, the name Allah (God), on the
left 'Muhammed', on the side walls, the four initial Caliphs of
Islam; Ebu Bekir, Omer, Osman and Ali, and on both sides of the
entrance, the grandsons of the prophet, Hasan and Hiiseyin names
are placed. These 7.5 m. wide round plates are accepted as some
of the greatest examples of calligraphy in the world of Islam.
The place to the left of the apse is the Sultan's lodge, while
the steps on the right side is the pulpit, where the imam
preaches on Fridays. And just in front of the pulpit, there is
the Preacher's Throne, which is a 16th century piece of art, and
where the Koran is read either in or on it. The hand print,
which is seen on the wall by the red porphyry columns to the
right of the apse, is dedicated to Virgin Mary. This marble
piece was brought here from Theotokos Church, which is an other
Byzantine work in Istanbul. On the right isle, there is the
Hagia Sophia Library, which was moved from the Palace Library in
the reign of Sultan Mahmut 1. in the 18th century.
The mosaic panel, which is the best protected one in the church,
is over the side door of the inner narthex, that the emperors
used as the entrance in the Byzantine period, whereas it is used
as the exit today. In this panel there is Virgin Mary seated on
a throne in the center with baby Christ. The Emperor Constantine
is on the right, and Emperor Justinian on the left. In the hands
of Constantine the Great, there is the model of the city and in
Justinian's, there is the model of the church. Both emperors
dedicated their proud works to Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.
GALLERIES
You can reach the upper floor, that was used by the women during
the service and the consuls, with an inclined thoroughfare lis
to the left of the inner narthex. structure was preferred
instead of stairs by the order of the queen, who was praying
with the other women, in order not to disturb the queen as she
was carried on shoulders with a litter to the upstairs.
The cross shaped wooden stretchers between the arcades in the
central gallery, just to the opposite side of the niche, are
elegant hand made artifacts, that you can only find similar ones
in the Catherina Monastery in Sina Desert. The south gallery to
the right side of the entrance is the most attractive part of
the upper galleries. On the marble panels at the left hand side,
there are the writings that are described as a hearsay remained
from the Vikings, who aearsay remained visited Istanbul. The
engraved marble portal at the entrance of the right wing of the
gallery is named as the 'Heaven's Door'. At the back side of
this portal, you can see two cross motives.
When you pass through the portal on the right side, there is
probably the most beautiful and most attractive mosaic of Hagia
Sophia. Very fine and colourful mosaic tiles were used for this
scene, in which Jesus Christ, Mother Mary and John the Baptist
appears together, although this panel suffered great damage
during the Latin invasion, the mosaics still has a very high
artistic value. The scene named as Deisis' dates back to 14th
century and depicts Mother Mary and John the Baptist asking
Jesus Christ, in grief, for the sinful to be sent to heaven.
At the end of the gallery, there are two other mosaic panels
with different emperors and their families uepicted together
with holy personalities. Emperor Comnenos. his Hungarian
originated wife Irene and their son Alexius are portrayed with
Virgin Mary and baby Christ in her arms. On the panel to the
left, on the other hand, Christ is seated on a throne, and
Empress Zoe and her third husband Constantine Monomachos are on
both sides. In this mosaic, where the empress had been depicted
with his first husband Romanos III in the 11th century the first
time, it is recognizable that the name and the head of the
emperor in the scene was changed after each marriage of the
empress. At the furthest point of the gallery, when you look at
the upper part of the apse, you can see the mosaic, where Virgin
Mary and baby Christ are pictured with the archangels Michael
and Gabriel (9th century).
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