Hagia Sophia, which is also known as the Church of the Holy Wisdom, was built in the sixth century ce (532-537) under the direction of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. This architectural work is located in Constantinople, or what is now known as Istanbul, Turkey. Hagia Sophia is considered an unparalleled historical and architectural medieval monument because of its structural engineering, illogical designs, and material foundation. Hagia Sophia was the third Church to be built in Constantinople. After the destruction of the Second church, Emperor Justinian I decided to build an entirely different basilica, larger and more majestic than its predecessors. In order to due this Justinian I did not use regular master builders. Justinian I turned to Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician, and Isidore of Mellitus, a physicist. These two men built the Hagia Sophia in less than six years, which is a very short time for such an enormous building. This short construction period may have been a reason for the collapse of the central dome in 557, when an earthquake hit Constantinople. Isidore the younger, the nephew to the first Isidore was entrusted with restoring Hagia Sophia. Since then, Hagia Sophia has …show more content…
1). The inner shell consists of a main central dome and pendentives, two flanking semi-domes and their satellite semi-domes, also known as exedrae, together with eight vertical supports or piers, outline the oval vessel of the nave. The surrounding outer shell is about less than half the height of the top of the dome and contains aisles and galleries as well as a buttressing system, which transfers thrust from the superstructure to the ground, leaving the magnificent central area open unhindered. These two rudimentary parts are separated by columns and are differentiated by the presence or absence of interior supports and an extremely substantial change in
2, Istanbul Turkey, Hagia Sophia. Getty Images. 2015. the architecture of the time, that being said he is able to explain the H. Sophia with fresh eyes and a colorful
The Hagia Sophia is a stunning, spherical-shaped building made of marble and gold (Doc. 4). Justinian built the Hagia Sophia, which means “Holy Wisdom” in Greek, after a church of the same name was destroyed in riots in Constantinople (outside information). Procopius, Justinian’s court historian, described the church as “suspended from heaven by the fabled golden chain” (Doc. 4). Undoubtedly, visitors to the Hagia Sophia are left breathless by its beauty (outside information). Other churches that Justinian built include the Church of St. Salvator in Chora and the Church of the Apostles (Doc. 5). Justinian’s churches were beautiful; however, they were created to be more than just a display. The churches caused people to feel a connection with God, which helped unify the empire under a single faith. The bonding of the Romans under one faith helped strengthen the entire empire. Moreover, the abundance of churches in Constantinople helped make the city the center of religious power (Doc. 5). Evidence of Justinian’s legacy can be found when one realizes that the Byzantine Empire’s revived culture influenced Orthodox Christianity, a major branch of modern
The towers of the church have cone-shaped tops with one being larger than the other. There is a large circle shaped window in the center of the west facade. There are windows in the towers and windows at the base. There are doors and pedestals.There are details carved into the building which include the image of holy figures.
When Emperor Constantine found the city of Constantinople, it was soon to become the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. But the Christin city needed a great church to represent it’s great value, so the Hagia Sophia was built (Krystek, Lee). The Hagia Sophia was built by the Byzantine Empire in 537 C.E., which was an Empire influenced greatly by the greek and roman styles (Krystek, Lee). It has a square base with a large dome on the top. Round arcs surrounded the large dome, adding mystical beauty to the Hagia Sophia (Krystek, Lee). Also, multiple colors of bricks were used to create patterns on the outside of the Hagia Sophia. On the inside, the walls are made of marble with glass panes which bring beautiful sunlight into the large museum (Krystek, Lee). The Hagia Sophia is very significant because it was rebuilt many times. The first church was built and then burnt down in 404 C.E. (Krystek, Lee). It was then rebuilt and burned down by riots in 502 C.E. (Krystek, Lee). Then the 3rd church was built by Justinian. After long periods of time, Sultan Mehmed conquered Constantinople and changed it to an islamic city, converting the church to a mosque (Krystek, Lee). In 1934, President Ataturk changed the mosque to a museum for the people and tourists, instead of a sacred place of worship (Krystek, Lee).
It was built on the same site as the two before it, the first commissioned by Marcus Agrippa, and the second by Domitian. The first was destroyed by fire in 80 CE and the second burned down after being struck by lightning in 110 CE. The Pantheon standing today was started by Trajan in 114 CE and completed by Hadrian in 125 CE. The text of the original inscription was added to the new façade. The inscription reads “M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT”, meaning "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this building] when consul for the third time.” In 609 CE the Byzantine Emperor Phocas gave the building to Pope Boniface IV. It was then consecrated as a Christian church called Santa Maria ad Martyres, which has been in constant use ever since. Dedicated to every god, it is one of the best preserved Roman temples. The Pantheon has also served as a tomb since the Renaissance. Among those buried are the architect Baldassare Peruzzi, the painters Raphael and Annibale Caracci, and two kings of Italy: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, as well as Vittorio Emanuele's Queen, Margherita. The building stands on a base, originally extended a further twenty-two feet in front of the colonnade. “The front of the temple is a deep portico with eight unfluted Corinthian columns across the front and four interior columns, thus dividing the porch into a barrel-vaulted nave, which leads
The Hagia Sophia was constructed first and it was meant as the main church of the Byzantine Empire. It is said that they built the Hagia Sophia in only 5 years, while it took nearly a century for the Notre Dame cathedral to be completed. While it did have what some would consider an extremely short construction time, they did have many issues with the dome. It nearly collapsed more than a few times. Once the builders and architects figured a plan to keep it stable, one on looker said, ”it is as if the Dome is suspended from Heaven itself”. The Dome of the rock was constructed for Christians, Jews, and Muslims but was to attract new followers to Malik’s Islamic brotherhood. The project for the construction had many issues, not only with the Dome itself, but also with revolts that would postpone construction for years. Once completed, many followers believed that Jerusalem was the third holiest place in the world due to Muhammed’s journey to Heaven in order to talk to God. The art within the Hagia Sophia was beautiful Mosaics and paintings of the Virgin Mary with Jesus. These were meant to represent how holy the building was. When the Muslims claimed the Hagia Sophia they did not want to destroy it due to beliefs so they renovated the building. They did this by breaking down images of humans and animals due to their belief that no images of figures
Justinian brought with his reign the construction of countless architectural successes that bolstered his empire into a Golden Age. The most well-known and prominent of his works is the Hagia Sophia, an awe-inspiring structure that upon completion 537 C.E. remained the world’s largest cathedral for hundreds of years to come. It captivated the people with its beautiful gold covered ceilings and felt as if though it were suspended from heaven, this perfection was seen as only possible through the influence of God. Not only was it a place of worship but an attraction that brought many travelers that came to marvel the sight, thus promoting trade and cultural diffusion. The creation of the Wall of Theodosius, Wall of Constantine, aqueducts, roads and the Hippodrome were all beneficial to the Byzantine Empire in terms of economic, cultural, and resistance related undertakings. Constantinople was the Rome of the Byzant...
One of the outstanding structures that would help Justinian Empire to be remembered was the dome of the church. Although it was destroyed by an earthquake, it was one of the architectural magnificent wonders that attracted a number of architects who adored it (Mainstone 165). Other than the dome, Lustration urns were also magnificent and they created the hyped interest on the church; the urns were curved out of marble blocks. The imperial gate to the structure was another outstanding structural phenomenon that had contributed to the respect accorded to the architects of the church and the emperor. The imperial gate is reported have been reserved for the emperors only. The upper gallery also had great mosaics that were used to preserve it. In addition to all the above stated artistic structures, Justinian emperor introduced figurative decorations on the walls. The decorations were different from those used by the other emperors. Some of the decorations included the image of Jesus at the centre of the dome. The church also had some of the greatest mosaics that included formed figures of Virgin Mary, saints and geometric images.
Throughout history many individuals have made achievements that have changed the course of history. Emperor Justinian's, Hagia Sophia, is an example of an achievement that has had negative and positive effects on society. In ~650 A.D. Emperor Justinian ordered the making of the Eastern Orthodox Church named Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia’s architectural design was based primarily on the Islamic Mosque structure. This created problems in the upcoming future.
With the Pantheon being built over 1700 years ago, it’s amazing that architects are still using features and techniques from this work of architecture in modern creations. The use of this type of classical architecture will continue to be used in works for public space due to its remarkable exterior appearance and it’s long lasting structural durability. When both Jesse hall and the Pantheon are compared it is possible to see their similarities from the types of domes that top each, their external facades, and their interior plan. While they share many similarities, the differences that Bell and Binder used in their creation make this work of architecture unique to many other public spaces.
The original basilica, built by Emperor Constantine in the fourth century, is the foundation to this building. To those of the Christian faith, this building is the epitome of belief. St Peter’s Basilica is where the Catholic faith starts.
The Hagia Sophia was the biggest church in Europe at that time. The church was a symbol that the Bryzantine Empire was the strongest, Wealthiest, and most beautiful city in Europe. The church was so big that when traders were sailing they could see the church from the water. Justinian donated a lot of money towards education of art in hope that art prospers. Most of the art they had during that time was mosaics; much of bryzantine art was used to make religious statues and figures.
The strength of a gothic building is made to reside in a finely organized framework rather than in its walls. This framework, which consists of perfectly placed piers, arches and buttresses, frees up any unessential impediment of walls and presents a light feeling. The stability of the building depends only on inert massiveness in its outermost parts, whose opposing forces counteract each other in a perfect stability of thrust and counterthrust. Gothic architecture is an artistic, strategic system of engineering, schemes for building were followed for elevations, termed quadratum (four sided) and triangulorum (three sided). 2 This system allowed them to raise their ideal structures according to symbolic measure and numbers reflecting the geometry of the New Jerusalem and its prototype, the Temple of Solomon. (Figure 1.1)
These Gothic Churches were characterized by enlarged clerestory zone, windows enormous size with inserted new zone and triforium below the ribbed vaults and supporting of an arcade of high piers lining of the nave. These characteristics ensured the support of the greater stress of taller, broader interiors and to create larger window areas as well as the external supports.
The Hagia Sophia Built in or around 6th Century AD, the Hagia Sophia which means “Holy Wisdom”, was originally a cathedral in Constantinople (which is now Istanbul Turkey) during the Byzantine Empire. In the beginning it had served as a cathedral for the Constantine. The original was built of wood. During the riots of 404 AD the Hagia Sophia was mostly destroyed by fire and was rebuilt in 405 AD. The second church was destroyed during a revolt in 532 AD.