The Blue Mosque , officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque ( Turkish : Sultan Ahmet Camii ), is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul , Turkey . It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today. It also attracts a large number of tourists and is one of the most iconic and popular monuments of Ottoman architecture .
146-750: Blue Mosque may refer to: Buildings [ edit ] Blue Mosque, Istanbul , Turkey Blue Mosque, Yerevan , Armenia Blue Mosque, Tabriz , Iran Blue Mosque, Amsterdam , Netherlands Great Mosque of Herat , Afghanistan Hazrat Ali Mazar , also known as Blue Mosque, Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan Ajdarbey Mosque , Baku, Azerbaijan Aqsunqur Mosque , Egypt King Abdullah I Mosque , Amman, Jordan Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque , Beirut, Lebanon Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque , Shah Alam, Malaysia Other uses [ edit ] Blue Mosque
292-401: A matroneum (women's section). The exterior was decorated with elaborate carvings of rich Theodosian-era designs, fragments of which have survived, while the floor just inside the portico was embellished with polychrome mosaics. The surviving carved gable end from the centre of the western façade is decorated with a cross-roundel. Fragments of a frieze of reliefs with 12 lambs representing
438-517: A 1994 album by album by Muslimgauze Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Blue Mosque . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue_Mosque&oldid=1185661248 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Mosque disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
584-710: A Christian source, the Crusaders massacred some clerics who had surrendered to them. Much of the interior was damaged and would not be repaired until its return to Orthodox control in 1261. The sack of Hagia Sophia, and Constantinople in general, remained a sore point in Catholic–Eastern Orthodox relations . During the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204–1261), the church became a Latin Catholic cathedral. Baldwin I of Constantinople ( r. 1204–1205 )
730-539: A bridge of friendship and collaboration between East and West”, and he thanked the Turkish people “for the cordiality and sympathy” they showed him throughout his stay, saying, “he felt loved and understood.” (See also: Ottoman architectural decoration ) Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( Turkish : Ayasofya ; Ancient Greek : Ἁγία Σοφία , romanized : Hagía Sophía ; Latin : Sancta Sapientia ; lit. ' Holy Wisdom ' ), officially
876-646: A brief time as a Latin Catholic church between the Fourth Crusade and 1261. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it served as a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, the site once again became a mosque. The current structure was built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople for the Byzantine Empire between 532 and 537, and
1022-485: A covered ramp leading up to two rooms where the sultan could retire to rest, along with an enclosed portico or balcony on the south side overlooking the sea. These retiring rooms became the headquarters of the Grand Vizier during the suppression of the rebellious Janissary Corps in 1826. This auxiliary structure, which is awkwardly integrated into the overall mosque design, is an innovation that appears here for
1168-633: A deacon of Hagia Sophia and an administrative official in for the patriarchate from Antioch in Pisidia . Both George and Theodore, likely members of Sergius's literary circle, attribute the defeat of the Avars to the intervention of the Theotokos , a belief that strengthened in following centuries. In 726, the emperor Leo the Isaurian issued a series of edicts against the veneration of images, ordering
1314-408: A fire in 1912. It has since been restored. To the south, beyond a sloped tunnel that gives access to and from the mosque precinct, was a hammam. It was probably completed in 1617. It is now partly ruined. Its furnace room, warm room , and hot room are still mostly standing, but the front part of the building, which was probably made of wood, has been lost. Stretching below the southeast side of
1460-460: A gift from the Signoria of Venice , following a request from Ahmed I in 1610. Most of these original windows have been lost and since replaced with less elaborate modern windows. The modern windows probably make the mosque's interior today brighter than the original stained glass windows would have. The mosque is further illuminated by chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The many lamps inside
1606-612: A gilded silver quadriga bearing the icon of the Virgin from the now-demolished East Gate (or Gate of St Barbara, later the Turkish : Top Kapısı , lit. 'Cannon Gate') in the Propontis Wall , to Hagia Sophia for a thanks-giving service, and then to the imperial palace. In 1181, the daughter of the emperor Manuel I, Maria Comnena , and her husband, the caesar Renier of Montferrat , fled to Hagia Sophia at
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#17327720186431752-463: A great fire in 859, and again in an earthquake on 8 January 869 that caused the collapse of one of the half-domes. Emperor Basil I ordered repair of the tympanas, arches, and vaults. In his book De caerimoniis aulae Byzantinae ("Book of Ceremonies"), the emperor Constantine VII ( r. 913–959 ) wrote a detailed account of the ceremonies held in the Hagia Sophia by the emperor and
1898-413: A large courtyard preceding the prayer hall. The mosque's architect, Sedefkar Mehmed Agha , synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendor. According to the architect's official biographer, the mosque was the culmination of his career. Reflecting the classical Ottoman style of the period, the structure incorporates aspects of Byzantine architecture from
2044-650: A medieval artifact, near the probable location and is still visible today. The original tomb was destroyed by the Ottomans during the conversion of the church into a mosque. Upon the capture of Constantinople in 1261 by the Empire of Nicaea and the emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus , ( r. 1261–1282 ), the church was in a dilapidated state. In 1317, emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus ( r. 1282–1328 ) ordered four new buttresses ( Medieval Greek : Πυραμίδας , romanized : Pyramídas ) to be built in
2190-442: A model of the mosque and a model of a galley , noted by 17th and 18th century writers. On the outside, Mehmed Agha used the cascade of domes and semi-domes, combined with more curved and multi-tiered supported elements, to create a softer profile that builds up smoothly towards the summit of the central dome, much like he did with the interior. This approach differs slightly from that of Sinan and earlier Ottoman architects, who used
2336-623: A mosque. The first church on the site was known as the Magna Ecclesia ( Μεγάλη Ἐκκλησία , Megálē Ekklēsíā , 'Great Church') because of its size compared to the sizes of the contemporary churches in the city. According to the Chronicon Paschale , the church was consecrated on 15 February 360, during the reign of the emperor Constantius II ( r. 337–361 ) by the Arian bishop Eudoxius of Antioch . It
2482-473: A planned increase in bread prices, after a stoppage of the Cura Annonae rations resulting from the loss of the grain supply from Egypt. The Persians under Shahrbaraz and the Avars together laid the siege of Constantinople in 626; according to the Chronicon Paschale , on 2 August 626, Theodore Syncellus , a deacon and presbyter of Hagia Sophia, was among those who negotiated unsuccessfully with
2628-681: A prophecy. What was the reason that compelled all to flee to the Great Church? They had been listening, for many years, to some pseudo-soothsayers, who had declared that the city was destined to be handed over to the Turks, who would enter in large numbers and would massacre the Romans as far as the Column of Constantine the Great. After this an angel would descend, holding his sword. He would hand over
2774-522: A range of colours including blue, green, red, black, and turquoise. Nearly 75 percent of the mosque's walls, above the level of the tilework, are decorated with painted motifs. The predominant colour of this paintwork is blue, one of the reasons for the mosque's popular name, though much of it has since been replaced with modern imitations of the original 16th/17th-century style. The painted motifs generally consist of floral arabesques . Other motifs include calligraphic inscriptions, including verses from
2920-538: A revived Roman triumph after his victory over the Danishmendids at the siege of Kastamon in 1133. After proceeding through the streets on foot carrying a cross with a silver quadriga bearing the icon of the Virgin Mary, the emperor participated in a ceremony at the cathedral before entering the imperial palace. In 1168, another triumph was held by the emperor Manuel I Comnenus , again preceding with
3066-498: A softer progression from the rectangular outer walls to the round central dome. A two-floor gallery, supported on columns, runs along three sides of the prayer hall, except for the southeastern (or qibla) side, where the mihrab is located. Two fountains are incorporated into the two northern pillars of the mosque, similar to the Süleymaniye Mosque 's prayer hall. The floors are covered with carpets, which are donated by
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#17327720186433212-436: A square structure with four domes and several chimneys, while the other two structures (the pantry and dining hall) are rectangular buildings with six domes. Additionally, there were guesthouses nearby but these have disappeared. In the 19th century, the hospital and the guesthouses were destroyed and an academy was built over the site. Only the hospital's hammam section and the marble fountain of its courtyard have survived to
3358-468: A timber roof, curtains, columns, and an entrance that faced west. It likely had a narthex and is described as being shaped like a Roman circus . This may mean that it had a U-shaped plan like the basilicas of San Marcellino e Pietro and Sant'Agnese fuori le mura in Rome . However, it may also have been a more conventional three-, four-, or five-aisled basilica, perhaps resembling the original Church of
3504-477: A total of 26 columns supporting the porticos and 30 domes above them. Unlike the courtyards of the Süleymaniye Mosque and Selimiye Mosque designed by Sinan, where the portico in front of the prayer hall is taller than those on the other three sides, Mehmet Agha kept the arches of the southeast portico level almost with the others, thus prioritizing greater uniformity. At the center of the courtyard
3650-769: A tribute was paid to the Avars . The Avars attacked the extramural areas of Constantinople in 623, causing the Byzantines to move the "garment" relic ( ‹See Tfd› Greek: ἐσθής , translit. esthḗs ) of Mary, mother of Jesus to Hagia Sophia from its usual shrine of the Church of the Theotokos at Blachernae just outside the Theodosian Walls . On 14 May 626, the Scholae Palatinae , an elite body of soldiers, protested in Hagia Sophia against
3796-474: Is constructed with bricks stamped with brick-stamps dating from the 5th century, but the lower part is of constructed with bricks typical of the 4th century. This wall was probably part of the propylaeum at the west front of both the Constantinian and Theodosian Great Churches. The building was accompanied by a baptistery and a skeuophylakion . A hypogeum , perhaps with an martyrium above it,
3942-476: Is crafted from elaborately carved marble, with a summit covered by a gold-covered conical cap. The mosque has been designed so that even when it is at its most crowded, everyone in the mosque can see and hear the imam, with the exception of the areas behind the mosque's large pillars. According to Evliya Çelebi , who saw the mosque in the 17th century, a hundred Qur'ans on lecterns inlaid with mother-of-pearl , all gifted by sultans and viziers, were placed near
4088-447: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Blue Mosque, Istanbul The mosque has a classical Ottoman layout with a central dome surrounded by four semi-domes over the prayer hall. It is fronted by a large courtyard and flanked by six minarets . On the inside, it is decorated with thousands of Iznik tiles and painted floral motifs in predominantly blue colours, which give
4234-483: Is located northeast of the mosque, next to the Hippodrome square. It was begun in 1619 after Ahmed's death, and completed by his son, Osman II ( r. 1618–1622 ). Unlike many Ottoman mausoleums, which most typically have an octagonal form, the tomb chamber has a square floor plan covered by a dome, more reminiscent of a small mosque. The dome has a diameter of 15 metres. There is a small rectangular alcove at
4380-612: Is possible that both they and John the Lydian considered Hagia Sophia a great temple for the supreme Neoplatonist deity who manifestated through light and the sun. John the Lydian describes the church as the " temenos of the Great God" (Greek: τὸ τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ Τέμενος , romanized: tò toû megálou theoû Témenos ). Originally the exterior of the church was covered with marble veneer , as indicated by remaining pieces of marble and surviving attachments for lost panels on
4526-586: Is said to have "changed the history of architecture". The present Justinianic building was the third church of the same name to occupy the site, as the prior one had been destroyed in the Nika riots . As the episcopal see of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople , it remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, until the Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. Beginning with subsequent Byzantine architecture, Hagia Sophia became
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4672-493: Is supported by muqarnas -carved corbeling . The minarets have been repaired many times in their history. Historically, the muezzin had to climb a narrow spiral staircase inside the minarets five times a day to announce the call to prayer. As in most major Ottoman religious foundations , the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the main element of a larger complex of buildings. Unlike in previous imperial mosque complexes,
4818-415: Is the shadirvan, an octagonal domed kiosk sheltering a fountain that was used for ablutions . The outer surfaces of the kiosk are carved with low-relief foliate motifs. Today, Muslim ablutions are not performed at this fountain but at a series of water taps available outside the courtyard, along the northeast and southwest walls. The inclusion of these taps under arcaded galleries along the outer walls of
4964-458: The khagan of the Avars. A homily , attributed by existing manuscripts to Theodore Syncellus and possibly delivered on the anniversary of the event, describes the translation of the Virgin's garment and its ceremonial re-translation to Blachernae by the patriarch Sergius I after the threat had passed. Another eyewitness account of the Avar–Persian siege was written by George of Pisidia ,
5110-478: The 12 apostles also remain; unlike Justinian's 6th-century church, the Theodosian Hagia Sophia had both colourful floor mosaics and external decorative sculpture. At the western end, surviving stone fragments of the structure show there was vaulting , at least at the western end. The Theodosian building had a monumental propylaeum hall with a portico that may account for this vaulting, which
5256-484: The Chronicle of John Malalas , during a subsequent earthquake on 7 May 558, the eastern semi-dome collapsed, destroying the ambon , altar, and ciborium . The collapse was due mainly to the excessive bearing load and to the enormous shear load of the dome, which was too flat. These caused the deformation of the piers which sustained the dome. Justinian ordered an immediate restoration. He entrusted it to Isidorus
5402-577: The Column of Theodosius closer to Hagia Sophia; in others, it occurs at the Column of Constantine , which is closer still. Hagia Sophia is mentioned in a hagiography of uncertain date detailing the life of the Eastern Orthodox saint Andrew the Fool . The text is self-attributed to Nicephorus, a priest of Hagia Sophia, and contains a description of the end time in the form of a dialogue, in which
5548-528: The Hagia Sophia (the most important mosque of the Ottoman Empire ), a site of significant symbolic significance that allows it to dominate the city's skyline. The mosque's location was originally occupied by the Hippodrome's bleachers and its imperial box (where the emperor sat when attending events here). During excavations in the early 20th century, some of the ancient seats were discovered in
5694-681: The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (Turkish: Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi ; Greek : Μεγάλο Τζαμί της Αγίας Σοφίας ), is a mosque and former church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul , Turkey . The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire , it was completed in AD 537. The site was an Eastern rite church from AD 360 to 1453, except for
5840-662: The Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki , Panagia Ekatontapiliani , the Şehzade Mosque , the Süleymaniye Mosque , the Rüstem Pasha Mosque and the Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex . The patriarchate moved to the Church of the Holy Apostles , which became the city's cathedral. The complex remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum under
5986-853: The Hippodrome of Constantinople , and the second Hagia Sophia was burnt to the ground on 13–14 January 532. The court historian Procopius wrote: And by way of shewing that it was not against the Emperor alone that they [the rioters] had taken up arms, but no less against God himself, unholy wretches that they were, they had the hardihood to fire the Church of the Christians, which the people of Byzantium call "Sophia", an epithet which they have most appropriately invented for God, by which they call His temple; and God permitted them to accomplish this impiety, foreseeing into what an object of beauty this shrine
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6132-523: The Mausoleum of Helena ), it is possible it originally had a funerary function, though by 405 its use had changed. A later account credited a woman called Anna with donating the land on which the church was built in return for the right to be buried there. Excavations on the western side of the site of the first church under the propylaeum wall reveal that the first church was built atop a road about 8 m (26 ft) wide. According to early accounts,
6278-525: The Peace of Zsitvatorok , seen as a blow to Ottoman prestige, Sultan Ahmed I decided to build a large mosque in Istanbul in the hope of soliciting God's favour. He was the first sultan to build an imperial mosque since Selim II (d. 1574), as both Murad III and Mehmed III before him had neglected to construct their own. The mosque was built on the southeast side of the old Byzantine Hippodrome , near
6424-606: The Rus'–Byzantine War of 941 and the death of the Grand Prince of Kiev , Igor I ( r. 912–945 ), his widow Olga of Kiev – regent for her infant son Sviatoslav I ( r. 945–972 ) – visited the emperor Constantine VII and was received as queen of the Rus' in Constantinople. She was probably baptized in Hagia Sophia's baptistery, taking the name of the reigning augusta , Helena Lecapena , and receiving
6570-532: The Sultan Ahmed Mosque . Upon its conversion, the bells , altar , iconostasis , ambo , and baptistery were removed, while iconography , such as the mosaic depictions of Jesus, Mary , Christian saints and angels were removed or plastered over. Islamic architectural additions included four minarets , a minbar and a mihrab . The Byzantine architecture of the Hagia Sophia served as inspiration for many other religious buildings including
6716-580: The mosque of the Ka'aba in Mecca . When criticized for his presumption, the Sultan then ordered a seventh minaret to be built at the Mecca mosque. Each of the six minaret towers is fluted and is topped by a slender, conical cap. The four minarets rising at the corners of the prayer hall each have three balconies ( şerefe ) while the other two at the outer corners of the courtyard have two balconies each. Each balcony
6862-453: The secular Republic of Turkey, and the building was Turkey's most visited tourist attraction as of 2019 . In July 2020, the Council of State annulled the 1934 decision to establish the museum, and the Hagia Sophia was reclassified as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf , endowed by Sultan Mehmed, had designated
7008-470: The synthronon . He adds that mules and donkeys were brought into the cathedral's sanctuary to carry away the gilded silver plating of the bema, the ambo, and the doors and other furnishings, and that one of them slipped on the marble floor and was accidentally disembowelled, further contaminating the place. According to Ali ibn al-Athir , whose treatment of the Sack of Constantinople was probably dependent on
7154-527: The "Great Church", likely on 15 April 428. According to the anonymous Letter to Cosmas , the virgin empress, a promoter of the cult of the Virgin Mary who habitually partook in the Eucharist at the sanctuary of Nestorius's predecessors, claimed right of entry because of her equivalent position to the Theotokos – the Virgin Mary – "having given birth to God". Their theological differences were part of
7300-465: The 4th-century skeuophylakion survived the fire. According to Dark and Kostenec, the fire may only have affected the main basilica, leaving the surrounding ancillary buildings intact. A second church on the site was ordered by Theodosius II ( r. 402–450 ), who inaugurated it on 10 October 415. The Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae , a fifth-century list of monuments, names Hagia Sophia as Magna Ecclesia , 'Great Church', while
7446-407: The 4th-century church was not yet known as Hagia Sophia. Though its name as the 'Great Church' implies that it was larger than other Constantinopolitan churches, the only other major churches of the 4th century were the Church of St Mocius , which lay outside the Constantinian walls and was perhaps attached to a cemetery, and the Church of the Holy Apostles . The church itself is known to have had
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#17327720186437592-529: The 5th century Theodosian basilica could have been built surrounded by a complex constructed primarily during the fourth century. During the reign of Theodosius II, the emperor's elder sister, the Augusta Pulcheria ( r. 414–453 ) was challenged by the patriarch Nestorius ( r. 10 April 428 – 22 June 431 ). The patriarch denied the Augusta access to the sanctuary of
7738-513: The Armenian architect Trdat , creator of the Cathedral of Ani , to direct the repairs. He erected again and reinforced the fallen dome arch, and rebuilt the west side of the dome with 15 dome ribs. The extent of the damage required six years of repair and reconstruction; the church was re-opened on 13 May 994. At the end of the reconstruction, the church's decorations were renovated, including
7884-462: The Church of the Wisdom, at the top of the window, a large flame of fire issuing forth. It encircled the entire neck of the church for a long time. The flame gathered into one; its flame altered, and there was an indescribable light. At once it took to the sky. ... The light itself has gone up to heaven; the gates of heaven were opened; the light was received; and again they were closed." This phenomenon
8030-680: The Eastern Orthodox Church upon the restoration of the Byzantine Empire in 1261. Enrico Dandolo , the doge of Venice who led the Fourth Crusade and the 1204 Sack of Constantinople , was buried in the church. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it was converted to a mosque by Mehmed the Conqueror and became the principal mosque of Istanbul until the 1616 construction of
8176-470: The Eastern Orthodox Church. According to an early 14th-century source, the second church in Kiev, Saint Sophia's , was founded in anno mundi 6460 in the Byzantine calendar , or c. 952 . The name of this future cathedral of Kiev probably commemorates Olga's baptism at Hagia Sophia. After the great earthquake of 25 October 989, which collapsed the western dome arch, Emperor Basil II asked for
8322-662: The Greek historian Doukas , the Hagia Sophia was tainted by these Catholic associations, and the anti-union Orthodox faithful avoided the cathedral, considering it to be a haunt of demons and a "Hellenic" temple of Roman paganism . Doukas also notes that after the Laetentur Caeli was proclaimed, the Byzantines dispersed discontentedly to nearby venues where they drank toasts to the Hodegetria icon, which had, according to late Byzantine tradition, interceded to save them in
8468-696: The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem . The building was likely preceded by an atrium , as in the later churches on the site. According to Ken Dark and Jan Kostenec, a further remnant of the 4th century basilica may exist in a wall of alternating brick and stone banded masonry immediately to the west of the Justinianic church. The top part of the wall
8614-543: The Justinianic Hagia Sophia revealed the western remains of its Theodosian predecessor, as well as some fragments of the Constantinian church. German archaeologist Alfons Maria Schneider began conducting archaeological excavations during the mid-1930s, publishing his final report in 1941. Excavations in the area that had once been the 6th-century atrium of the Justinianic church revealed the monumental western entrance and atrium, along with columns and sculptural fragments from both 4th- and 5th-century churches. Further digging
8760-423: The Qur'an), is contained within the outer enclosure of the nearby mausoleum It was restored in 1935 and is currently used as a storage for Ottoman archives. Four other structures of the complex were built over the sphendone, the semi-circular southwest end of the Hippodrome. The largest and furthest building was a hospital ( darüşşifa ), a square building arranged around an internal courtyard. Its construction
8906-506: The Qur'an, originally made by the famous calligrapher Seyyid Kasim Gubari , but these too have been restored repeatedly and no longer match the original calligrapher's work. Some opus sectile decoration is also used at floor level. The mosque also contains some original inlaid woodwork of high quality, including the doors of the courtyard entrance, which were made by the father of Evliya Çelebi. The mosque contains some 260 windows to admit natural light. Each semi-dome has 14 windows and
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#17327720186439052-571: The Younger, nephew of Isidore of Miletus, who used lighter materials. The entire vault had to be taken down and rebuilt 20 Byzantine feet (6.25 m or 20.5 ft) higher than before, giving the building its current interior height of 55.6 m (182 ft). Moreover, Isidorus changed the dome type, erecting a ribbed dome with pendentives whose diameter was between 32.7 and 33.5 m. Under Justinian's orders, eight Corinthian columns were disassembled from Baalbek , Lebanon and shipped to Constantinople around 560. This reconstruction, which gave
9198-433: The addition of four immense paintings of cherubs; a new depiction of Christ on the dome; a burial cloth of Christ shown on Fridays, and on the apse a new depiction of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, between the apostles Peter and Paul. On the great side arches were painted the prophets and the teachers of the church. According to the 13th-century Greek historian Niketas Choniates , the emperor John II Comnenus celebrated
9344-405: The advance of the Turks. The identity of the emperor was often confused with that of other famous saint-emperors like Theodosius I and Heraclius . The orb was frequently referred to as an apple in foreigners' accounts of the city, and it was interpreted in Greek folklore as a symbol of the Turks' mythological homeland in Central Asia, the "Lone Apple Tree". The orb fell to the ground in 1316 and
9490-414: The all-holy dedicatory offerings". After a successful sally by Renier and his knights, Maria requested a truce, the imperial assault ceased, and an amnesty was negotiated by the megas doux Andronikos Kontostephanos and the megas hetaireiarches John Doukas . Greek historian Niketas Choniates compared the preservation of the cathedral to the efforts made by the 1st-century emperor Titus to avoid
9636-450: The army to destroy all icons – ushering in the period of Byzantine iconoclasm . At that time, all religious pictures and statues were removed from the Hagia Sophia. Following a brief hiatus during the reign of Empress Irene (797–802), the iconoclasts returned. Emperor Theophilus ( r. 829–842 ) had two-winged bronze doors with his monograms installed at the southern entrance of the church. The basilica suffered damage, first in
9782-404: The back of the chamber whose original purpose is uncertain. The tomb is fronted by a portico with three arches. Inside are the tombs of Sultan Ahmed I and some of his family, including his wife Kösem and four of his sons, Sultan Osman II, Sultan Murad IV ( r. 1623–1640 ), Şehzade Mehmed (d. 1621) and Şehzade Bayezid (d. 1635). The madrasa of the complex is located just outside
9928-499: The building we now see, it seems to me that they would have prayed that they might see their church destroyed forthwith, in order that the building might be converted into its present form. Upon seeing the finished building, the Emperor reportedly said: "Solomon, I have surpassed thee " ( Medieval Greek : Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών ). Justinian and Patriarch Menas inaugurated the new basilica on 27 December 537, 5 years and 10 months after construction started, with much pomp. Hagia Sophia
10074-434: The building with 4,000 Roman pounds of gold, but he was dismissed from office in October 532. John the Lydian wrote that Phocas had acquired the funds by moral means, but Evagrius Scholasticus later wrote that the money had been obtained unjustly. According to Anthony Kaldellis , both of Hagia Sophia's architects named by Procopius were associated with the school of the pagan philosopher Ammonius of Alexandria . It
10220-457: The building's western face. The white marble cladding of much of the church, together with gilding of some parts, would have given Hagia Sophia a shimmering appearance quite different from the brick- and plaster-work of the modern period, and would have significantly increased its visibility from the sea. The cathedral's interior surfaces were sheathed with polychrome marbles, green and white with purple porphyry , and gold mosaics. The exterior
10366-399: The building. Construction of the church began in 532 during the short tenure of Phocas as praetorian prefect . Although Phocas had been arrested in 529 as a suspected practitioner of paganism , he replaced John the Cappadocian after the Nika Riots saw the destruction of the Theodosian church. According to John the Lydian , Phocas was responsible for funding the initial construction of
10512-401: The central dome 28 (four of which are blind ). Each smaller exedra of the semi-domes has five windows, some of which are blind. Many of the windows were made in a traditional manner with intricate designs created with small pieces of coloured glass. Some of the glass was manufactured locally for the outer windows, but most of the glass, especially the coloured glass, was imported. Some of it was
10658-436: The central dome and the pillars is achieved by four long, smooth pendentives . Smaller pendentives are used for transitions between the semi-domes and their exedrae and between the hall's corner domes and the surrounding structure. The transitions between the smaller exedrae and the supporting walls or arches are covered by muqarnas (stalactite-like sculpting) made of stucco . By employing these elements, Mehmed Agha created
10804-514: The church its present 6th-century form, was completed in 562. The poet Paul the Silentiary composed an ekphrasis , or long visual poem, for the re-dedication of the basilica presided over by Patriarch Eutychius on 24 December 562. Paul the Silentiary's poem is conventionally known under the Latin title Descriptio Sanctae Sophiae , and he was also author of another ekphrasis on the ambon of
10950-577: The church was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom . It was where the excommunication of Patriarch Michael I Cerularius was officially delivered by Humbert of Silva Candida , the envoy of Pope Leo IX in 1054, an act considered the start of the East–West Schism . In 1204, it was converted during the Fourth Crusade into a Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire , before being returned to
11096-718: The church, the Descripto Ambonis . According to the history of the patriarch Nicephorus I and the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor , various liturgical vessels of the cathedral were melted down on the order of the emperor Heraclius ( r. 610–641 ) after the capture of Alexandria and Roman Egypt by the Sasanian Empire during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 . Theophanes states that these were made into gold and silver coins, and
11242-536: The city's capture. Despite the ill-repute and empty state of Hagia Sophia after December 1452, Doukas writes that after the Theodosian Walls were breached, the Byzantines took refuge there as the Turks advanced through the city: "All the women and men, monks, and nuns ran to the Great Church. They, both men and women, were holding in their arms their infants. What a spectacle! That street was crowded, full of human beings." He attributes their change of heart to
11388-570: The complex with locals and mercenaries, and despite the strong opposition of the patriarch, made the "house of prayer into a den of thieves or a well-fortified and precipitous stronghold, impregnable to assault", while "all the dwellings adjacent to Hagia Sophia and adjoining the Augusteion were demolished by [Maria's] men". A battle ensued in the Augustaion and around the Milion , during which
11534-583: The construction process. This new church was contemporaneously recognized as a major work of architecture. Outside the church was an elaborate array of monuments around the bronze-plated Column of Justinian , topped by an equestrian statue of the emperor which dominated the Augustaeum , the open square outside the church which connected it with the Great Palace complex through the Chalke Gate . At
11680-399: The controversy over the title theotokos that resulted in the Council of Ephesus and the stimulation of Monophysitism and Nestorianism , a doctrine, which like Nestorius, rejects the use of the title. Pulcheria along with Pope Celestine I and Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria had Nestorius overthrown, condemned at the ecumenical council, and exiled. The area of the western entrance to
11826-470: The courtyard was an innovative feature. A heavy iron chain hangs in the northwestern entrance (from the Hippodrome) to the outer precinct of the mosque. Only the sultan was allowed to enter the court of the mosque on horseback. The chain was put there, so that the sultan had to lower his head every single time he entered the court to avoid being hit. This was a symbolic gesture, to ensure the humility of
11972-454: The courtyard, the prayer hall is also entered via a monumental gate on the southeast side, decorated with its own muqarnas semi-vault and inscription panel. The prayer hall also has two other lateral entrances on the outside of the mosque, where non-Muslim tourists usually enter today. On the inside, the mosque courtyard has a classic rectangular peristyle form, lined on each side with an arcaded and domed portico (or riwaq ). There are
12118-404: The culmination of their dispute with the empress Maria of Antioch , regent for her son, the emperor Alexius II Comnenus . Maria Comnena and Renier occupied the cathedral with the support of the patriarch, refusing the imperial administration's demands for a peaceful departure. According to Niketas Choniates, they "transformed the sacred courtyard into a military camp", garrisoned the entrances to
12264-515: The defenders fought from the "gallery of the Catechumeneia (also called the Makron)" facing the Augusteion, from which they eventually retreated and took up positions in the exonarthex of Hagia Sophia itself. At this point, "the patriarch was anxious lest the enemy troops enter the temple, with unholy feet trample the holy floor, and with hands defiled and dripping with blood still warm plunder
12410-444: The deliberate juxtaposition of curved domes and vertical elements to create a more dramatic effect. The courtyard of the mosque has three entrances: a central entrance on the northwest and two other side entrances. The central entrance is the most monumental, featuring a tall projecting portal topped by a small dome raised on a drum . A muqarnas semi-vault is set over the exterior doorway and there are two inscription panels. From
12556-684: The destruction of a city founded on seven hills in the Book of Revelation was frequently understood to be about Constantinople, and the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius had predicted an " Ishmaelite " conquest of the Roman Empire. In this text, the Muslim armies reach the Forum Bovis before being turned back by divine intervention; in later apocalyptic texts, the climactic turn takes place at
12702-779: The destruction of the Second Temple during the siege of Jerusalem in the First Jewish–Roman War . Choniates reports that in 1182, a white hawk wearing jesses was seen to fly from the east to Hagia Sophia, flying three times from the "building of the Thōmaitēs " (a basilica erected on the southeastern side of the Augustaion) to the Palace of the Kathisma in the Great Palace , where new emperors were acclaimed . This
12848-560: The destruction of the Theodosian Hagia Sophia and comparing the new church with the old, Procopius lauded the Justinianic building, writing in De aedificiis : ... the Emperor Justinian built not long afterwards a church so finely shaped, that if anyone had enquired of the Christians before the burning if it would be their wish that the church should be destroyed and one like this should take its place, shewing them some sort of model of
12994-408: The early 16th century. The prayer hall occupies an area of 64 by 72 metres (210 by 236 ft) and has a central dome measuring 23.5 metres (77 ft) in diameter. The dome is surrounded by four semi-domes , each of which is flanked by three smaller semi-domes or exedrae . Four smaller domes cover the corners of the prayer hall. On the outside, the mosque has six minarets, ablutions facilities, and
13140-445: The eastern and northern parts of the church, financing them with the inheritance of his late wife, Irene of Montferrat ( d. 1314). New cracks developed in the dome after the earthquake of October 1344, and several parts of the building collapsed on 19 May 1346. Repairs by architects Astras and Peralta began in 1354. On 12 December 1452, Isidore of Kiev proclaimed in Hagia Sophia the long-anticipated ecclesiastical union between
13286-698: The edge of the Augustaeum was the Milion and the Regia, the first stretch of Constantinople's main thoroughfare, the Mese . Also facing the Augustaeum were the enormous Constantinian thermae , the Baths of Zeuxippus , and the Justinianic civic basilica under which was the vast cistern known as the Basilica Cistern . On the opposite side of Hagia Sophia was the former cathedral, Hagia Irene. Referring to
13432-439: The edifice was built by Constantius' father, Constantine the Great ( r. 306–337 ). Hesychius of Miletus wrote that Constantine built Hagia Sophia with a wooden roof and removed 427 (mostly pagan) statues from the site. The 12th-century chronicler Joannes Zonaras reconciles the two opinions, writing that Constantius had repaired the edifice consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia , after it had collapsed. Since Eusebius
13578-401: The entire Iznik industry during its construction. Starting in 1607, orders for tiles were sent out continuously and in 1613 the sultan even forbade the production and sale of tiles for any other purpose, so that his own commissions could be completed on time. A total of 21,043 tiles, featuring over fifty different designs, are found inside the mosque. Some panels were designed specifically for
13724-412: The fact that the empire was under economic stress, aroused the protests of the ulema (Islamic legal scholars), who argued that sultans should only fund the construction of an imperial mosque with spoils of conquest. Ahmed I had won no major victories and thus had to divert funds from the treasury for this expensive project. The ulema went so far as to forbid Muslims from praying at the mosque. Despite
13870-456: The faithful and are regularly replaced as they wear out. At ground level, the focus of the prayer hall is the mihrab, which is made of finely carved marble, with a muqarnas niche and a two inscription panels above it. It is surrounded by many windows. To the right of the mihrab is the richly decorated minbar , or pulpit, where the imam stands when he is delivering his sermon at the time of noon prayer on Fridays or on holy days. The minbar
14016-409: The final completion of the project. In the end, the mosque's grandeur, its luxurious decoration, and the elaborate public ceremonies that Ahmed I organized to celebrate the project appear to have swayed public opinion and overcome the initial controversy over its construction. It became one of the most popular mosques in the city. The mosque has left a major mark on the city and has given its name to
14162-417: The first Hagia Sophia was built on the site of an ancient pagan temple, although there are no artefacts to confirm this. The Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom came into a conflict with Empress Aelia Eudoxia , wife of the emperor Arcadius ( r. 383–408 ), and was sent into exile on 20 June 404. During the subsequent riots, this first church was largely burnt down. Palladius noted that
14308-511: The first time in Ottoman architecture. It was partly destroyed by a fire in 1912 and was subsequently restored. The lower walls of the mosque, especially around the galleries, are covered in Iznik tiles , a style of tilework named after their main production center, İznik (ancient Nicaea ). Ahmed I had a great appreciation for these tiles and the production of tiles for his mosque occupied
14454-709: The former sieges of Constantinople by the Avar Khaganate and the Umayyad Caliphate . According to Nestor Iskander's Tale on the Taking of Tsargrad , the Hagia Sophia was the focus of an alarming omen interpreted as the Holy Spirit abandoning Constantinople on 21 May 1453, in the final days of the Siege of Constantinople. The sky lit up, illuminating the city, and "many people gathered and saw on
14600-472: The former cathedral Hagia Irene is referred to as Ecclesia Antiqua , 'Old Church'. At the time of Socrates of Constantinople around 440, "both churches [were] enclosed by a single wall and served by the same clergy". Thus, the complex would have encompassed a large area including the future site of the Hospital of Samson . If the fire of 404 destroyed only the 4th-century main basilica church, then
14746-415: The interlocutor, upon being told by the saint that Constantinople will be sunk in a flood and that "the waters as they gush forth will irresistibly deluge her and cover her and surrender her to the terrifying and immense sea of the abyss", says "some people say that the Great Church of God will not be submerged with the city but will be suspended in the air by an invisible power". The reply is given that "When
14892-464: The kingdom, together with the sword, to some insignificant, poor, and humble man who would happen to be standing by the Column. He would say to him: "Take this sword and avenge the Lord's people." Then the Turks would be turned back, would be massacred by the pursuing Romans, and would be ejected from the city and from all places in the west and the east and would be driven as far as the borders of Persia, to
15038-429: The lack of a monumental entrance portal and the placement of the dershane (a larger domed chamber serving as a classroom), which is attached to a corner of the building rather than placed in the middle of one side. The madrasa is entered via a more discrete doorway on the northwest side, behind the outer garden wall of the nearby mausoleum. A separate square structure, the darülkurra (a school that teaches reading of
15184-550: The late 5th-century Column of Leo . A large lintel of the skeuophylakion 's western entrance – bricked up during the Ottoman era – was discovered inside the rotunda when it was archaeologically cleared to its foundations in 1979, during which time the brickwork was also repointed . The skeuophylakion was again restored in 2014 by the Vakıflar . A fire started during the tumult of the Nika Revolt , which had begun nearby in
15330-433: The mihrab. The hünkâr mahfil , or sultan's loge, is an elevated platform situated in the southeast corner of the prayer hall, where the sultan could pray. The platform has an L-shape and is supported on ten marble columns. It has its own mihrab with rich decoration, which used to include gold leaf and a jade rose. The loge is reached from the outside via an "imperial pavilion", a large L-shaped structure composed of
15476-471: The military supremacy of the Islamic caliphate over the Christian empire. In Niccolò Barbaro 's account of the fall of the city in 1453, the Justinianic monument was interpreted in the last days of the siege as representing the city's founder Constantine the Great, indicating "this is the way my conqueror will come". According to Laonicus Chalcocondyles , Hagia Sophia was a refuge for the population during
15622-534: The mosque demonstrates an emerging trend towards extravagance in the structure and decoration of Ottoman buildings during this time, as evidenced by its size, its profile (including the increased number of minarets), and its lavish use of Iznik tiles. A similar lack of restraint in decoration is also found, for example, in the New Mosque (or Yeni Valide Mosque) that was completed later that same century. While architectural historians have criticized some details of
15768-517: The mosque its popular name. The mosque's külliye (religious complex) includes Ahmed's tomb, a madrasa , and several other buildings in various states of preservation. The mosque was built next to the former Hippodrome and stands across from the Hagia Sophia , another popular tourist site. The Blue Mosque was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1985 under the name of " Historic Areas of Istanbul ". After
15914-482: The mosque precinct is an arasta , a market street that was built as part of the complex. It contains spaces for around 200 shops. It too was completed in 1617. In 1912, it was destroyed by fire but it was restored from its ruined state between 1982 and 1985. It is now open as a bazaar, catering especially to tourists. Pope Benedict XVI visited the Blue Mosque on 30 November 2006 during his visit to Turkey. It
16060-416: The mosque were once covered with gold and gems . Among the lamps one could find ostrich eggs and crystal balls. Adding ostrich eggs to chandeliers was a frequent traditional practice in mosques and Near Eastern churches. It is popularly explained in Istanbul as a method to ward off spiders or mice, or to warn of earthquakes. Some of the crystal balls or glass bowls also contained other curiosities, such as
16206-407: The mosque's courtyard. Given the mosque's location, size, and number of minarets , it is probable that Sultan Ahmed intended to create a monument that rivalled or surpassed the Hagia Sophia. Prior to construction, this site was occupied by the palaces of several Ottoman viziers, including Sokollu Mehmet Pasha and Güzel Ahmet Pasha, which required a costly expropriation process. This, along with
16352-420: The mosque's structure and decoration when comparing it to the earlier works of Sinan, the mosque is one of the most impressive and popularly admired monuments of Ottoman architecture . The mosque's interior is dominated by its dome and cascading semi-domes. The main dome reaches a height of 43 metres (141 ft). The weight of the dome is supported by four massive cylindrical pillars. The transition between
16498-412: The mosque, while others seem to have been reused from other buildings and amassed here, including lower-quality tiles added during later repairs. The finest tiles are found on the walls of the upper gallery on the north wall, though these are difficult for most visitors to see today. They constitute a virtual museum of tile design from this period, with motifs including cypress trees, flowers, and fruit in
16644-498: The neighboring Hagia Sophia with Islamic architecture . It was the last great mosque of this classical period. Architectural historian Doğan Kuban characterizes Mehmed Agha's style as having a more "sculptural" approach, with more attention brought on the details of the building and a willingness to break up its elements into smaller parts, whereas Sinan had placed more emphasis on rigorous spatial designs with relatively restrained decoration. Scholar Gülru Necipoğlu states that
16790-476: The opposition, the sultan went ahead with the project. Construction started in 1609 and completed in 1617, when the opening ceremony was held, though the year 1616 is mentioned on some of the mosque's inscriptions. Ahmed I died around the same time or very soon afterwards in 1617. Scholar Godfrey Goodwin notes that the last accounting reports on the mosque's construction were signed by Mustafa I , Ahmed I's successor, which suggests that Ahmed I had died before
16936-426: The other structures of this complex are not arranged in a regular, well-organized plan around the mosque. Because the mosque was built next to the Hippodrome, the site created difficulties for a planned complex and the auxiliary buildings were instead placed in various locations near the mosque or around the Hippodrome. The mosque is surrounded by an outer court or precinct enclosed by a wall. The mausoleum of Ahmed I
17082-427: The outer wall of the mosque's precinct, to the northeast. It was probably completed towards 1620. The madrasa has a generally classical layout, consisting of a rectangular courtyard surrounded on all four sides by an arcaded and domed portico. Behind each portico is a row of domed rooms that served as student sleeping quarters, with 24 rooms in total. The main features that depart from the design of earlier madrasas are
17228-531: The paradigmatic Orthodox church form , and its architectural style was emulated by Ottoman mosques a thousand years later. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world " and as an architectural and cultural icon of Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox civilization. The religious and spiritual centre of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years,
17374-468: The patriarch. Early in the 10th century, the pagan ruler of the Kievan Rus' sent emissaries to his neighbors to learn about Judaism, Islam, and Roman and Orthodox Christianity. After visiting Hagia Sophia his emissaries reported back: "We were led into a place where they serve their God, and we did not know where we were, in heaven or on earth." In the 940s or 950s, probably around 954 or 955, after
17520-434: The present day. The academy building burned down in the 1970s but was subsequently restored and now serves as the office of the rectorate of Marmara University . The surviving buildings of the imaret have been integrated into it. The primary school ( sibyan mektebi ) is a small and simple rectangular structure built over the outer precinct wall on the east side of the mosque. It was completed around 1617 and destroyed by
17666-744: The ruler in the face of the divine. The Blue Mosque is one of the five mosques in Turkey that has six minarets (one in the modern Sabancı Mosque in Adana , the Muğdat Mosque in Mersin , Çamlıca Mosque in Üsküdar and the Green mosque in Arnavutköy). According to folklore, an architect misheard the Sultan's request for "altın minareler" (gold minarets) as "altı minare" (six minarets), a feature then-unique to
17812-641: The site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. The decision to designate Hagia Sophia as a mosque was highly controversial. It resulted in divided opinions and drew condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO , the World Council of Churches and the International Association of Byzantine Studies , as well as numerous international leaders, while several Muslim leaders in Turkey and other countries welcomed its conversion into
17958-543: The steps outside the atrium of the Constantinian Old St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Near the staircase, there was a cistern, perhaps to supply a fountain in the atrium or for worshippers to wash with before entering. The 4th-century skeuophylakion was replaced in the 5th century by the present-day structure, a rotunda constructed of banded masonry in the lower two levels and of plain brick masonry in
18104-413: The subsequent Sack of Constantinople in 1204, the church was further ransacked and desecrated by the Crusaders, as described by Choniates, though he did not witness the events in person. According to his account, composed at the court of the rump Empire of Nicaea , Hagia Sophia was stripped of its remaining metal ornaments, its altar was smashed into pieces, and a "woman laden with sins" sang and danced on
18250-450: The surrounding neighbourhood, now known as Sultanahmet. In 1883, much of the mosque interior's painted decoration was replaced by new stenciled paintwork, some of which changed the original colour scheme. A major fire in 1912 damaged or destroyed several of the outlying structures of the mosque complex, which were subsequently restored. A major restoration of the mosque took place in the 21st century. During preparatory work in 2013, it
18396-406: The third. Originally this rotunda, probably employed as a treasury for liturgical objects, had a second-floor internal gallery accessed by an external spiral staircase and two levels of niches for storage. A further row of windows with marble window frames on the third level remain bricked up. The gallery was supported on monumental consoles with carved acanthus designs, similar to those used on
18542-581: The titles zōstē patrikía and the styles of archontissa and hegemon of the Rus'. Her baptism was an important step towards the Christianization of the Kievan Rus' , though the emperor's treatment of her visit in De caerimoniis does not mention baptism. Olga is deemed a saint and equal-to-the-apostles ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : ἰσαπόστολος , translit. isapóstolos ) in
18688-458: The western Catholic and eastern Orthodox Churches as decided at the Council of Florence and decreed by the papal bull Laetentur Caeli , though it would be short-lived. The union was unpopular among the Byzantines, who had already expelled the Patriarch of Constantinople, Gregory III , for his pro-union stance. A new patriarch was not installed until after the Ottoman conquest. According to
18834-463: The whole city sinks into the sea, how can the Great Church remain? Who will need her? Do you think God dwells in temples made with hands?" The Column of Constantine , however, is prophesied to endure. From the time of Procopius in the reign of Justinian, the equestrian imperial statue on the Column of Justinian in the Augustaion beside Hagia Sophia, which gestured towards Asia with right hand,
18980-509: Was abandoned for fear of harming the structural integrity of the Justinianic building, but parts of the excavation trenches remain uncovered, laying bare the foundations of the Theodosian building. The basilica was built by architect Rufinus. The church's main entrance, which may have had gilded doors, faced west, and there was an additional entrance to the east. There was a central pulpit and likely an upper gallery, possibly employed as
19126-401: Was begun in 1609 and completed in 1620. It included a hammam (bathhouse) and a small mosque. Directly northeast of this were three other buildings placed in a row, which together formed the imaret (a soup kitchen ). This set of buildings was begun in 1617 and probably finished in 1620. The three structures include a pantry, a kitchen and oven, and a dining hall. The kitchen building is
19272-432: Was built next to the area where the Great Palace was being developed. According to the 5th-century ecclesiastical historian Socrates of Constantinople , the emperor Constantius had c. 346 "constructed the Great Church alongside that called Irene which because it was too small, the emperor's father [Constantine] had enlarged and beautified". A tradition which is not older than the 7th or 8th century reports that
19418-762: Was clad in stucco that was tinted yellow and red during the 19th-century restorations by the Fossati architects. The construction is described by Procopius in On Buildings ( Greek : Περὶ κτισμάτων , romanized : Peri ktismatōn , Latin: De aedificiis ). Columns and other marble elements were imported from throughout the Mediterranean, although the columns were once thought to be spoils from cities such as Rome and Ephesus. Even though they were made specifically for Hagia Sophia, they vary in size. More than ten thousand people were employed during
19564-520: Was crowned emperor on 16 May 1204 in Hagia Sophia in a ceremony which closely followed Byzantine practices. Enrico Dandolo , the Doge of Venice who commanded the sack and invasion of the city by the Latin Crusaders in 1204, is buried inside the church, probably in the upper eastern gallery . In the 19th century, an Italian restoration team placed a cenotaph marker, frequently mistaken as being
19710-484: Was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles . It was formally called the Church of God's Holy Wisdom (Greek: Ναὸς τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας , romanized: Naòs tês Hagías toû Theoû Sophías ) and upon completion became the world's largest interior space and among the first to employ a fully pendentive dome. It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and
19856-452: Was destined to be transformed. So the whole church at that time lay a charred mass of ruins. On 23 February 532, only a few weeks after the destruction of the second basilica, Emperor Justinian I inaugurated the construction of a third and entirely different basilica, larger and more majestic than its predecessors. Justinian appointed two architects, mathematician Anthemius of Tralles and geometer and engineer Isidore of Miletus , to design
20002-471: Was discovered before 1946, and the remnants of a brick wall with traces of marble revetment were identified in 2004. The hypogeum was a tomb which may have been part of the 4th-century church or may have been from the pre-Constantinian city of Byzantium . The skeuophylakion is said by Palladius to have had a circular floor plan, and since some U-shaped basilicas in Rome were funerary churches with attached circular mausolea (the Mausoleum of Constantina and
20148-490: Was discovered that the mosque's northwest minaret had shifted 5 centimetres (2.0 in) over time, constituting a potential threat to its structural stability. Work to reconstruct and repair the minaret was underway in 2015. Comprehensive restoration work on the rest of the mosque began in 2018 and was finished in April 2023. The design of the mosque is based on that of the earlier Şehzade Mosque designed by Mimar Sinan in
20294-640: Was only the second papal visit in history to a Muslim place of worship. Having removed his shoes, the Pope paused for a full two minutes, eyes closed in silent meditation, standing side by side with Mustafa Çağrıcı, the Mufti of Istanbul, and Emrullah Hatipoğlu, the Imam of the Blue Mosque. The pope “thanked divine Providence for this” and said, “May all believers identify themselves with the one God and bear witness to true brotherhood.” The pontiff noted that Turkey “will be
20440-541: Was perhaps St Elmo's fire induced by gunpowder smoke and unusual weather. The author relates that the fall of the city to "Mohammadenism" was foretold in an omen seen by Constantine the Great – an eagle fighting with a snake – which also signified that "in the end Christianity will overpower Mohammedanism, will receive the Seven Hills , and will be enthroned in it". The eventual fall of Constantinople had long been predicted in apocalyptic literature . A reference to
20586-413: Was replaced by 1325, but while it was still in place around 1412, by the time Johann Schiltberger saw the statue in 1427, the "empire-apple" ( German : Reichsapfel ) had fallen to the earth. An attempt to raise it again in 1435 failed, and this amplified the prophecies of the city's fall. For the Turks, the "red apple" ( Turkish : kızıl elma ) came to symbolize Constantinople itself and subsequently
20732-407: Was supposed to presage the end of the reign of Andronicus I Comnenus ( r. 1183–1185 ). Choniates further writes that in 1203, during the Fourth Crusade , the emperors Isaac II Angelus and Alexius IV Angelus stripped Hagia Sophia of all gold ornaments and silver oil-lamps in order to pay off the Crusaders who had ousted Alexius III Angelus and helped Isaac return to the throne. Upon
20878-405: Was the bishop of Constantinople from 339 to 341, and Constantine died in 337, it seems that the first church was erected by Constantius. The nearby Hagia Irene ("Holy Peace") church was completed earlier and served as cathedral until the Great Church was completed. Besides Hagia Irene, there is no record of major churches in the city-centre before the late 4th century. Rowland Mainstone argued
21024-543: Was the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and a principal setting for Byzantine imperial ceremonies, such as coronations . The basilica offered sanctuary from persecution to criminals, although there was disagreement about whether Justinian had intended for murderers to be eligible for asylum. Earthquakes in August 553 and on 14 December 557 caused cracks in the main dome and eastern semi-dome . According to
21170-622: Was thought by the original excavators in the 1930s to be part of the western entrance of the church itself. The propylaeum opened onto an atrium which lay in front of the basilica church itself. Preceding the propylaeum was a steep monumental staircase following the contours of the ground as it sloped away westwards in the direction of the Strategion , the Basilica, and the harbours of the Golden Horn . This arrangement would have resembled
21316-588: Was understood to represent the emperor holding back the threat to the Romans from the Sasanian Empire in the Roman–Persian Wars , while the orb or globus cruciger held in the statue's left was an expression of the global power of the Roman emperor. Subsequently, in the Arab–Byzantine wars , the threat held back by the statue became the Umayyad Caliphate , and later, the statue was thought to be fending off
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