Aghia Sophia 532 - 537 - History of Islamic Architecture (sitios de interés)

Descripción del sitio

This marker is part of an extended History of Islamic Architecture

Constantinople-Istanbul
Aghia Sofia
Built by Emperor Justinian I
Present building: 532-537



Photo from Wikipeda, Hagia Sofia

Cross section of the building



Floor Plan: from Wikipedia



Looking at the plan of the Aghia Sophia, it is immediate evident that this is not a cruciform church, but a basilica with a centralized plan, which evolved from rectangular Roman architectural forms. Only the marriage between the dome and the rectangular base goes back to eastern examples (see e.g., Ktesiphon). The central floor measures an immense 220 feet by 250 feet and the four arches around the nave are 70 feet high. Everything about the various elements is designed - contrary to later Islamic practice, which conceals the "heaven" from the viewer by interspersing a "ceiling" of lamps - to draw the eye higher and higher, into the dome and, presumably, heaven itself. Only Westerners look at the domes of mosques - and are occasionally reminded by the keeper that this is not "done".

It is virtually impossible to photograph the enterior without a specialized camera . This photograph - the only one I could find - is from 1890 before the mosque was converted into a museum (Harvard Archives):



Photo Archnet.org

My own attempt (1990). The marble urn is from Bergama and was placed here by Selim III (1566-1574)




Sultan Ahmed Mosque seen from a window of the women's gallery in the Aghia Sofia (1990).

Mapa del lugar de interés Aghia Sophia 532 - 537

Panorámica interactiva con Google Street View