Hagia Sophia : A meeting point of religions
Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul: it’s the same city but a different era each time, a different culture each time. But one monument has stood the test of time. A monument which was the jewel of every Emperor that ruled over this transcontinental city. Travellers, pilgrims and traders would see this architectural marvel from the Bosphorus and would hold their breath in awe. It has served as an inspiration for many famous buildings including the magnificent Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Today, it’s one of the top rated tourist attractions of Turkey and a meeting point of world’s two largest religions. It’s the Aya Sofya or Hagia Sophia.
Timeline of Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia has witnessed a lot of events during its 1600 years of existence. I won’t be listing all the events but only a few very important ones. These events are crucial in understanding the importance of this monument.
360 – Constantius (son of Constantine the Great) inaugurates Hagia Sophia. It was then called Magna Ecclesia (the great church) and had a wooden roof
404 – A riots breakdown in the city during which the roof of the church is burnt down
415 – Theodosius II reconstructs the roof
532 – The church is completely burnt down
537 – Justinian builds a grand Eastern Orthodox Cathedral. It remains an Orthodox Cathedral till 1453. For a brief time it was converted to a Roman Catholic Cathedral between 1204 -1261.
1453 – Mehmed II conquers Constantinople and establishes the Ottoman Empire in the city. He converts Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. It continues being a mosque till 1931
1935 – The first President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, converts the building into a museum. The building till today remains a museum.
Hagia Sophia is special on so many counts. The timeline above showcases why it is such an important monument historically. It’s seen a lot; be it various emperors, fires, earthquakes, religions and still stands tall today. The elements of both a church and a mosque make it special on the architectural and the art front (more on it in the next paragraph). Moreover, it also symbolizes peace and harmony and showcases that religions can co-exist together. But more than anything else it’s an engineering marvel. It was the first ever building to be constructed with a rectangular base and a circular dome on top. Complex mathematical calculations went into making this grand structure. The iterative method to calculate the square root of a number was used to construct the dome. When it was finished in 537, Justinian upon entering said “Solomon, I have outdone thee” (Solomon I have outdone your temple at Jerusalem). Until 1507, it remained the largest cathedral in the world!
If you like this article you may also like reading about the Mosque- Cathedral of Cordoba, a mosque turned Cathedral. Read the article here
Mosaics of Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia houses some of the most important art works of the Byzantium era. The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia are considered as master pieces. They depict Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary and Emperors. During the Ottoman rule these mosaics were covered in plaster since Islam prohibits icon worship. It was in 1847, during one of the restoration projects, these mosaics were uncovered. Imagine restoring a wall and suddenly some plaster comes off and you see something golden underneath. You scrub off the plaster to find a beautiful image of Jesus. You are jumping in excitement since you have uncovered a masterpiece belonging to the 13th Century. But your excitement is short lived; because you are currently standing in a mosque and you are not sure how the Sultan will react. The Sultan infact was quite happy but he didn’t want to start a controversy and hence asked the restorers to plaster the mosaics back. It was post Hagia Sophia became a museum the complete restoration of the mosaics took place.
Islamic architecture and Calligraphy in Hagia Sophia
The Islamic inscriptions or calligraphy are one of the main attractions of Hagia Sophia. There are huge 8 circular wooden frames which bear the names of Allah, Prophet Muhammad, His two grandsons – Hasan and Husayn and the four caliphs. They all are inscribed by the famous calligrapher Izzet Efendi. Another piece of Islamic architecture is the beautiful Mihrab (it shows the direction of Mecca) which was installed by Mehmed II. Apart from the Mihrab, the Sultan also installed the minarets which today alongwith the Blue Mosque adorns the skyline of Istanbul.
How to reach Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is located in the Sultanahmet region of Istanbul which has all the major attractions like The Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar etc. Tickets cost 72 TL (12.5 USD) and can be bought at the entrance. Hagia Sophia is closed on Mondays so plan accordingly.
Sincera Tip
- The terrace of the Blue House Hotel and Sultan’s Pub are two great locations to capture Hagia Sophia.
- I would recommend spending 2 hours to experience Hagia Sophia
- Although I didn’t find a long queue, I will strongly suggest to reach either at 9:00 am ( when the museum opens) or 2 hours before it closes ( last entry at 6 pm in summers and 4 pm in winters)