INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE SITE

Name : Maimoona zaheer

CMS ID:42588
Hagia Sophia
• INTRODUCTION:
• Hagia Sophia is a great architectural beauty
and an important monument both for
Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires. Once a
church, later a mosque, and now a museum
at the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sophia has
always been the precious of its time
• LOCATION:
• Hagia Sophia is located in Istanbul Turkey. It
is at the European part of the city in
 Sultanahmet area (old town), nearby Topkapi palace in Istanbul. It is within
walking distance from the hotels in Sultanahmet. The distance from Istanbul
International Airport is 20km
Hagia sophia
• Architect
• Isidore Of Miletus
• Antemio De Tralles
• Ruffino
• Remodelation Architect
• Antemio from Tralles, Isidoro from Mileto

• Built in
• 415

• Remodeled in
• 532-537

• Location
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Architectural masterpiece:
• Imagine an architectural masterpiece that dates back to the 6th century which has been
used first as a church, then a mosque and
finally a museum.
• Architectural monuments:
• It’s become one of the leading artistic and
architectural monuments in the world
therefore attracting not only the tourists but
also the historians, the architects, the artists
and the archaeologists.
• Importance:
 • Hagia Sophia plays an important role in the world of art due to its architecture,
magnificence, grandness and functionality .
Concept

• Hagia Sophia its name from the word “Hagia” in Greek means God and
“Sophia” wisdom. “Divine Wisdom” is one of the attributes of Jesus Christ and this
church was dedicated to that attribute. In Hagia Sophia merges logic of Greek
theology, the ambitious scale of Rome, the tradition of vaulting the Near East and
the mysticism of Eastern Christianity, creating a monument commemorating the
whole tradition of antiquity and the positive affirmation of the triumph of faith of
Christianity.

• This basilica holds a symbolic concept of space, Pantheon, the Church and
Kingdom of God and the dome as Universe.
• Transformation: The transformation of the
monument in years can be considered as unique in the
world .It was transformed, developed, affected by the
historical, political and religious changes of the area
where it is located from the 6th century till today.
When it was built, today’s Istanbul was Constantinople
then, which was the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
• Function: The purpose of the building was to
worship and it has carried on its purpose for hundreds of years, first by the Christians
then by the Muslims.
• 1.Christian: It was built as a Cathedral reflecting
Christian architectural features.
• 2.Mosque: after the conquest of the Ottoman
Emperor Fatih Sultan Mehmed it was turned to a
mosque by adding Islamic features like minaret, a
chandelier, mihrab and a minbar without destroying
the features of the Christian church.
• 3.Master piece: Not touching the Christian features of the monument and adding
Islamic features make this monument a unique architectural masterpiece
Hagia sophia as a mosque:

Hagia sophia as a church:

Hagia sophia today as a museum:

Damaged building of hagia sophia

Hagia Sophia Renovation
• Damaged: Hagia Sophia has been badly damaged by earthquakes, fires and vandalism
during the centuries.
• Changes: It has had 3 major changes; originally it was built as a church in 537 later it
was converted to the mosque in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople and finally it was
opened as a Museum in 1935.
• First restoration : Sultan Abdulmecid ordered the first restoration of Hagia Sophia in
1847. Columns were straightened, dome and vaults were consolidated, old chandeliers
were replaced by new pendants ones, huge circular framed discs were hung on columns
and interior and exterior decorations were revised by 800 workers in 8 years. After all
these renovations, Minaretes, Mimbar and Mihrab were also renovated and repaired 1
year later in 1850.
• Cracks in dome : Hagia Sophia’s copper roof
had cracks therefore dome was repaired in
between 1997-2002.
• Decorated with mosaics: Hagia Sophia is
decorated with mosaics date back 4th century.
Significant part of the mosaics has been survived
through the centuries because of covering with
plaster during the subsequent use of Hagia
Sophia as a Mosque.
• After many years of restorations work was
completed, all ornaments and interior marble
pieces cleaned and renovated again during the
restoration process in 2012.
• Calligraphy: A total of 600 m2 mosaics have
been restored together with Islamic calligraphy
on the walls.
• Stains due to humidity: There are still visible stains in some areas of Hagia Sophia
because of humidity of Istanbul. Probably the complete restoration will be impossible

Tunnels of Hagia Sophia

• Hagia Sophia keeps its secrets. With the documentary
“Beneath the Hagia Sophia”, the myth of Hagia Sophia
becomes a popular subject.
• To the legend, Hagia Sophia was important as Vatican.
There were tunnels reaching to Princes Islands (Kinaliada)
starting from Hagia Sophia.
• The underground tunnels covered the city of Constantinople. The huge cistern that a galley may
sail was beneath earth. The tunnels under Hagia Sophia were reaching to Crypto rooms and the
rooms for secret writings. The treasures were hidden beneath Hagia Sophia due to the sieges.
• Any trace of such legendary long tunnels or secret rooms is still a question after the permission
taken just for one day. Yet, there are places to be discovered.
• As the Ministry of Culture prohibits any change beneath the structure, the idea of tunnel
entrances that might have closed in time may still a possibility, and, therefore, the legend may still
continue.
 160 years old secret Unearthed
After 160 years of darkness, Seraphim's face is in daylight.

There are 4 seraphim mosaics (God's protector angels with 6 wings) on the 4
pendentives that carry the dome. The 4 seraphims' faces were covered with 67
layers of plaster for almost 160 years during the sovereignty of Ottomans. The
last person who saw the faces of the Seraphims was the Swiss architect Gaspare
Fossati while he was holding the restoration at Hagia Sophia in 1840s. With a 10
day hard work, experts managed to take off the 7 layers of plasters and reveal
the face of one of the seraphims.

The 16 years old scaffold that was standing on the southeast quarter of the dome
for reconstruction purposes has been unstitched to be set up to northeast
quarter.

The certain age of the mosaics is unclear however they are known to be older than
700 years.

Hagia Sophia Architecture

• Justinian’s Hagia Sophia is the one that stands
today. It is an architectural intelligence and the
first masterpiece in Byzantine architecture. It has
been the largest cathedral for 1000 years until the
Seville Cathedral was built.
• Shape: The church has a rectangular shape, and
the square vast square nave measuring 31m
(102ft) is covered with a central dome that is
carried on four pendentives.
• The arcade: the archade around the dome is
unbroken with 40 arched windows to bring the
light inside. Excluding the two narthexes and the
large atrium.
Hagia Sophia Architecture
• The basilica: the basilica measures 70 x 75 m
 (229 x 245 ft) . The atrium measures 48 x 32 m (157 x 106 ft)
and the total length of the construction measures 135 m
(442 ft).
• The narthex outside at the eastern part of atrium is enclosed, and the inner narthex
is entered by 5 doors, and from this inner narthex there are 9 doors to the nave.
• The accesses to upper galleries are provided by ramps, which are traditional feature
of Constantinopolitan church planning.
Hagia Sophia Dome
• It is mostly the dome which makes Hagia Sophia
world famous. Hagia Sophia dome sits at the centre
of the church. It is between two half domes which
together equals to the diameters of the dome. The
dome is built by brick and mortar, it is 31, 24 mt
(102 ft 6 in) diameters and is 55, 6 mt (182 ft 5 in)
high. Because of the several repairs and
 constructions in time, the dome lost its circular shape and the diameter became
31,24 mt (102 ft 6 in) to 30,86 mt (101 ft 3in).
• Hagia Sophia Dome is carried on four pendentives and these pendentives enable its
transition into the square shape of its piers below. These pendentives distribute the
weight of the dome to the walls under it.
Loge of Empress

Empress’ loge is on the west upper gallery,

overlooking the nave from the top. From there, the
Empress could watch the rituals and ceremonies.

Marble Door
It is located at the upper southern gallery. It is probably
removed from another Hellenistic building and was
brought to Hagia Sophia. The marble door was used by synod members to enter and
exit to the meeting chamber.
Sultan's Lodge:
The earlier lodge was located on the apse, but Gaspere
Fossati designed the new lodge in 1847 and replaced it
against the pier to the north of the apse. The lodge was
used by Sultan to join the rituals without being seen by
public and it was also to protect the Sultan from possible
assassins. The grills of the lodge are carved marble in
Turkish rococo style, and the columns carrying the lodge
are Byzantine.
Mahmut I's Library
Mahmut I who reigned between 1730- 1754, gave strong
interest in Hagia Sophia. He ordered repairs, and also he
added a library, a fountain, an imaret ( a kitchen to serve
food for poor) and a school for children to Hagia Sophia. The
library is located on the first floor of Hagia Sophia at the
southern aisle. It is a rectangular room, half of the walls decorated with marble and
half top with iznik tiles. On the east wall hangs the “tugra” (calligraphic signature) of
Mahmut I.
The library’s front side has six columns, and in between there are bronze grills that
closes the interior.
Marble Jars
he marble jars on the main floor of the church
were brought to Hagia Sophia from Pergamon,
during the reign of Murat III (1574 – 1595). Each
jar was carved from a single block of marble.
Plan:
PLAN:
Features:
Elevations:
Section:
Section:
Architectural features:
Architectural features:
Primary structure system:
Architectural Features:
Features:
Pendentive dome construction:
Arches:
 Column: The column capital does important work, providing transition from what it supports to the round
column beneath. What we see here is decoration that makes the capital appear light, even insubstantial. The
whole appears more as filigree work than as robust stone capable of supporting enormous weight to the
column.

Windows: he windows at the bottom of the dome are closely spaced, visually asserting that the base of the
dome is insubstantial and hardly touching the building itself. The building planners did more than squeeze the
windows together, they also lined the jambs or sides of the windows with gold mosaic. As light hits the gold it
bounces around the openings and eats away at the structure and makes room for the imagination to see a
floating dome.
 Earthquake performance of hagia sophia

Materials:
Bricks: The central dome is built with bricks laid on edge and thick mortar beds for added lightness.
 Colored marble : Colored marble, porphyry and basalt columns that
divide up the ships and painted cover their walls, which help to generate
an ethereal glow iridescent inside the enclosure.
White marble : The interior columns were brought from temples in
Baalbek, Heliopolis, Ephesus, Miletus and Delphi, while other pillars and
capitals were made of white marble and ancient quarries abunundantes
Proconessos, in the Sea of Marmara, Thessaly green, golden Libya, Phrygia
and ivory roses of Cappadocia.
Stone and lime stone material
: Originally many of the windows
in a round arch windows were
closed and divided into small
squares either worked stone or
limestone material.

For both minarets to the walls of the church were used stone and brick, marble floors were also
combined with copper inside.
Materials:
Heritage value of Hagia sophia:

• The Hagia Sophia is a component of a UNESCO World Heritage site called the Historic Areas of
Istanbul (designated 1985), which includes that city's other major historic buildings and locations.
• Protection and management requirements:
• The Historic Areas of Istanbul is legally protected through national conservation legislation. There
is no specific planning legislation to protect World Heritage sites. The management structure for
the protection and conservation of the properties includes the shared responsibilities of national
government (The Ministry of Culture and Tourism General Directorate of Cultural Assets and
Museums, General Directorate of Pious Foundation) local administration and several state
institutions. The approval of the Conservation Council has to be obtained for physical
interventions and functional changes in registered buildings and conservation sites.
Importance:

• n its more than 1,400-year existence, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has meant many things to many
groups of people.
• The building served for centuries as the main religious center for Christians in the Byzantine
Empire. Under Ottoman rule, it was used as an Islamic religious center. Today it serves as a
museum. Millions of people visit the famous domed structure each year. UNESCO -- the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization –recognizes it as a World Heritage Site.
 Decorations and iconoclasm

• The decorations within the Hagia Sophia at the time of

construction were probably very simple, images of crosses
for instances. Over time this changed to include a variety
of ornate mosaics.
• “There are a number of mosaics that have been added
over the centuries, imperial portraits, images of the
imperial family, images of Christ and different emperors,
those have been added since Justinian’s day,” said
Goodson in the documentary.
Links

• Kotor
• Kusadasi
• Ephesus
• Kotor Old Town
• Ephesus Tours
• Dolmabahce Palace
• Bodrum
• Kotor Tours
• Chichen Itza
References

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hagia-Sophia
• https://www.hagiasophia.com/
• https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293974-d294497r165061320-
Hagia_Sophia_Museum-Istanbul.html
• https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/museum-or-mosque-turkeydebates-the-hagia-
sofia/5493273.html
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-
americas/medieval-europe-islamic-world/a/hagia-sophia-istanbul