It combined the traditional design elements of an Orthodox basilica with a large, domed roof, and a semi-domed altar with two narthex (or “porches”). The dome’s supporting arches were covered with mosaics of six winged angels called hexapterygon.
What was the Hagia Sophia decorated with?
One of the greatest surviving architectural wonders of the Byzantine period, the spacious interiors of the Hagia Sophia was decorated artistically with huge marble pillars, priceless mosaics and other coverings .
What is the artwork of Hagia Sophia?
Some of the mosaics in Hagia Sophia are considered masterpieces, and they are a reference to Byzantine art. The motifs used for creating the mosaics were mostly imperial portraits and religious images of Christ. They were created over many years by the different Byzantine royal families.
What are the special features of the Hagia Sophia?
Architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus built it in a span of six years. Hagia Sophia combines a longitudinal basilica and a centralised building in a unique Byzantine way—with a huge 32-metre main dome supported on pendentives (triangular segment of a spherical surface) and two semi-domes .
What are the key elements of the core structure of the Hagia Sophia?
The construction was made mostly out of brick and mortar. The dome was built over a square base, and pendentives, spherical triangles acting as a structural transition between the square shape of the base and the round shape of the dome, were an innovative constructive element used to support the weight of the dome.
What is the meaning of Aya Sophia?
The Hagia Sophia, whose name means “holy wisdom ,” is a domed monument originally built as a cathedral in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in the sixth century A.D. ... In its 1,400 year life-span it has served as a cathedral, mosque and now a museum.
What did iconoclasts believe?
Iconoclasm (from Greek: εἰκών, eikṓn, ‘figure, icon’ + κλάω, kláō, ‘to break’) is the social belief in the importance of the destruction of icons and other images or monuments , most frequently for religious or political reasons.
What is the new name of Constantinople?
The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne formally established the Republic of Turkey, which moved its capital to Ankara. Old Constantinople, long known informally as Istanbul , officially adopted the name in 1930.
Who built Aya Sophia?
Built by the eastern Roman emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople for the state church of the Roman Empire between 532 and 537, the church was then the world’s largest interior space and among the first to employ a fully pendentive dome.
What is deesis mosaic?
The Deësis mosaic in Hagia Sophia
The monumental Deësis mosaic depicts Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist approximately two and a half times larger than life . ... This type of image is referred to as a deësis (δέησις), which means “entreaty,” suggesting an act of asking, pleading, begging.
Who invented Pendentive?
The Romans were the first to experiment with pendentive domes in the 2nd-3rd century AD. They saw the supporting of a dome over an enclosed square or polygonal space as a particular architectural challenge.
How is the Hagia Sophia used today?
Ever since the reversion of Hagia Sophia back into a mosque , the Muslim call to prayer has been resounding from its minarets. Originally built as a Christian Orthodox church and serving that purpose for centuries, Hagia Sophia was transformed into a mosque by the Ottomans upon their conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
What are the features of Constantinople?
Constantinople is almost surrounded by water , except on its side facing Europe where walls were built. The city was built on a promontory projecting into the Bosphorus (Bosporus), which is the strait between the Sea of Marmara (Propontis) and the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus).
What materials make Hagia Sophia stand up?
Hagia Sophia is a brick building basically, only the foundations and supports that make the eight initial buttresses were built using large blocks of limestone .
What is the apse in Catholic Church?
Commonly, the apse of a church, cathedral or basilica is the semicircular or polygonal termination to the choir or sanctuary , or sometimes at the end of an aisle. In church architecture it is generally the name given to where the altar is placed or where the clergy are seated.
