Hagia Sophia

One of the contemporary Seven Wonders of the World, the Hagia Sofia Church in Istanbul is an architectural and religious monument that has impressed people of many epochs and cultures in the course of more than 14 centuries. The church was first completed in 360 AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. It was called “Megala Ekklessia”, or the Great Church. However, it was burnt in 404 AD during a revolt in the Roman Empire. A year later a new church was built in the same place by emperor Theodosius. It had almost the same destiny and was also destroyed in a fire.

The third and actually last church built on that place was completed by Emperor Justinian I in 537 in only 5 years. Hagia Sophia, the architects which were Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, who were professors of geometry at the University of Constantinople, was the first Roman basilica to be topped by a circular dome. The massive dome, which is the prominent architectural feature, has since often been used as a model for the design of Islamic mosques. Since Emperor Justinian I was a very strong believer in Christianity, he wanted the church to serve as a means for enlarging the range of Christianity to the eastern provinces. Multiple coronations and major ceremonies have taken place in Hagia Sofia. When Turks conquered Istanbul in 1453, Mehmed the Conqueror ordered the conversion of the church into a mosque. From then on, the Church served as a mosque, with four minarets added in different periods. The mosaics on the walls were covered with plaster because such were forbidden in Islam. In fact, this helped a lot the preservation of the mosaics and frescoes through time. Hagia Sophia served as a mosque until Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came into power in Turkey. He believed that Hagia Sophia was a world heritage site and people could come and admire it. Consequently, he ordered the conversion of the mosque into a museum and in 1929 the plasters started to be removed from Hagia sophia’s walls and in 1940s it was reopened as a museum. Today, the monument is a museum serving both Christians and Muslims.