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The
Church of the Divine Wisdom (Hagia
Sophia in Greek) in Sultanahmet,
Istanbul, is one of the most
impressive and important
buildings ever constructed.
Its
wide, flat dome was a daring
engineering feat in the 6th century,
and architects still marvel at the
building's many innovations.
Called Hagia
Sophia in Greek, Sancta
Sophia in Latin, Ayasofya in
Turkish, it was built on the
site of Byzantium's acropolis (map)
by Emperor
Justinian (527-65 AD)
in 537 AD.
Ayasofya was
the greatest church in Christendom,
and was meant to be. According to
Prof. Robert Osterhout, it was built
to surpass the gigantic Church
of St Polyeuchtos erected
by Julia Anitzia, scion of the line
of Theodosian emperors.
Julia meant
her church, a "recreation" of the
Temple of Jerusalem, to symbolize her
wealth, power and legitimate claim
to the throne of Byzantium. Justinian
had to out-build her to establish his
own legitimacy—and he did.
His
church remained the largest church
ever built until St Peter's
Basilica was
constructed in Rome a thousand years
later. (Julia's church,
by the way, was destroyed by an earthquake.
You can see a few pitiful
ruins of
it near the traffic under/overpass
between the Istanbul Belediye
Sarayi [City
Hall] and Aqueduct of Valens [Bozdogan
Kemeri](map).
Being the world's most impressive
building, it's no wonder that Mehmet
the Conqueror proclaimed it a mosque
soon after his conquest of the city
from the Byzantines in 1453.
It served as Istanbul's
most revered mosque until 1935 when Atatürk,
recognizing its world-historical significance,
had it proclaimed a museum,
as it is now.
Although most of the building is still
a museum, a room on the east
side was opened in 2007 as a prayer-place (Ibadete Açik Kismi), and
the call to prayer is proclaimed from
the minaret above it.
Ayasofya
is awe-inspiring—one of the
first things to see when you're
in Istanbul.
Luckily, it's right next to Topkapi
Palace, the Blue
Mosque and the Byzantine Hippodrome,
and right across the street from Yerebatan,
the Sunken Palace Cistern.
The 30
million gold tesserae (tiny
mosaic tiles) which cover the church's
interior—especially the dome—are
now being restored to the brilliance
they boasted 1500 years ago. This
means the interior is filled
with scaffolding, and
will be so for years to come. This
may spoil photos, but not the church's
grandeur. You'll still enjoy your
visit here.
Be
sure to climb to the mezzanine
level to see the splendid Byzantine mosaics.
Ayasofya is one of
the stops on Backpackers
Travel's Old
Istanbul Walking Tour, a good
way to have a look at the major sights.
More...
I
wrote a short article for Travel & Leisure magazine
(US) about Ayasofya entitled "Ayasofya:
the Perfect Space."
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