The Church of Hagia Sophia

For a long time Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was the largest church in the world. It was the renovation of an earlier basilica. This renovation tool place in only about six years. A lot of building problems resulted from the quick work and from the fact that there was mortar between the bricks that was almost as thick as the bricks themselves. Because of this weight, the arches buckled and the buttresses had to be rebuilt. After two earthquakes, the eastern arch and part of the dome fell in 557. Hagia Sophia uses vaulting techniques of Romans similar to what you see close up of geometric forms and design and geometry of the Late Greek world.

Hagia Sophia means "Holy Wisdom." Hagia Sophia was renovated by Justinian in 532 AD. It was Justinian's greatest building project. When it was converted to a mosque in the year 1453, the minarets were added. For now we will concentrate on the interior of the building. To see what an architectural masterpiece Hagia Sophia was lets first take a look at the way Western European Churches were being built. The churches of Rome were a long rectangle, which usually focused attention on the Apse End, where the Altar stood. This is what we call the axis of the building; the imaginary line that goes from the doors to the altar. Hagia Sophia has the form of a square. Within this square are two concentric octagons-circle within a square. The circle is said to have represented ETERNITY-INFINITY-the SPIRITUAL REALM, meaning it never stops. The square may have stood for what the Greeks believed were the four basic elements, which include earth, wind, fire, and water. So, when you have a circle and a square, you have the spiritual as well as the physical symbols of the earth. This might explain why the number 40 crops up so often, for example 40 windows support the dome of Hagia Sophia and in the story of Noah it rained 40 days and 40 nights. Four may be considered to represent the "4" earthly elements and "0" would represent the spiritual of infinite. The circle/square arrangement was topped with a great central dome. The hemispherical dome, 100 feet above the floor, rises from a drum above the central octagon. What is unique about the dome is its flatness. The dome seems to float on light; it rests on a tightly spaced ring of 40 windows. Two forms of religious symbolism are represented, which are the mystic number 40 and the symbolic idea of light's association with the truth of Christ. The effects of that light much have been dazzling. At the top of the interior of this dome was a huge mosaic of Christ called the Pantocrator. In Greek, Pan means all and Crat means ruler. However, this was plastered over when it was converted to a mosque. There is Islamic calligraphy in the center, and if you remember that the axis of a basilica runs right down the middle, which is where the axis of Hagia Sophia is located. Hagia Sophia has a vertical axis, which extends from the floor to the ceiling mosaic. Consider the psychological impact of the head of Christ as the ultimate focus of the central axis and the name Pantocrator meaning "ruler of all." Below the dome, eight piers alternate with columned niches in the central space. The viewer experiences an ever-changing vista of arches linking flat walls and curved spaces. All this created an intricate, multi-layered design. Another remarkable attribute of Hagia Sophia is the delicate proportioning of the vaults. They support an enormous amount of weight. Four more great piers, which are 70 feet high, rise from the corner. These piers carry four massive semicircular arches connected by triangular shaped membranes called pendentives. The pendentives join the upper edges to form the base of the central dome. Four great buttresses support the weight of the arches and dome. These pendentives make a transition from the basic square floor plan and the circular format of the dome. The vaulting was made of mosaic "countless little squares of gold cemented together." The interior is flooded with light from the windows and shell-thin walls it would have been unbelievably dazzling in its riches and the icons would have given the church a rather eerie, other-worldly quality. One writer of the time said Hagia Sophia was so beautiful that "the eyes of men can scarcely beat to look upon it."

The materials used in Hagia Sophia were magnificent. The porphyry columns came from Rome and the marble columns came from Ephesus. Marble in varied colors, alabaster, and onyx were cut, fitted, piered, and veneered to cover walls and pavements in geometric patterns. The building is intensely spiritual and yet capable of holding large numbers of worshippers. The church, Hagia Sophia, is now a museum but once it symbolized all the glory of Byzantium. It was a showplace, a treasure house for and spiritual riches. Nothing in the Eastern Roman Empire could come close to its display of riches, and that is what Justinian intended. When he looked at the glories of Hagia Sophia, he said "Solomon I have surpassed thee."