Hagia Sophia
From Archiplanet
 | Hagia Sophia |
| Designer | Isidoros and Anthemios |
| Location | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Date | 532 to 537 |
| Building Type | church |
| Climate | warm temperate |
| Context | urban |
| Architectural Style | Byzantine |
| Street Address | |
| Notes | A tremendous domed space. Relieving arches and arched collonades. |
| At Great Buildings | http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/Hagia_Sophia.html |
Contents |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Sites | |
| Name | Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika, Church of Agia Sophia |
| UNESCO State Party | Greece |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, iv |
| UNESCO Site ID | 456 |
| Year of Listing | 1988 |
| Building Details |
Commentary
"If there is one work that realizes the 'ideal' Byzantine model, it is the astonishing church of Hagia Sophia built as the new Cathedral of Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian...He intended it as the keystone of his vast architectural campaign...
"Hagia Sophia was built in the amazingly short time of five years...The daring of the design, and perhaps the speed of the construction, made the structure unstable. Its first dome fell after an earthquake, and its replacement (in 563, with a higher profile than the original) had to be repaired after partial collapses in the ninth and fourteenth centuries."
— Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: from Prehistory to Post-Modernism. p171.
"The choice of plan was...decided and imposed by Justinian himself. Santa Sophia does not have the basilical plan generally adopted for large buildings, but is on the centralized pattern....
"The architectural form of Santa Sophia is concealed by the richness of decoration. The walls, from the ground up, are covered in identical manner. Plaques of red, yellow and green marble blend with the mosaics, and these are further embellished by the capitals, imposts, architraves and friezes."
— Mitchell Beazley. The World Atlas of Architecture. p180.
"The Hagia Sophia was erected during the reign of Emperor Justinian (532 - 537 A.D.), when the Byzantine Empire was at the height of its power and influence. The massive dome, which is the prominent architectural feature, has since often been used as a model for the design of Islamic mosques. Indeed, after the fall of Byzantium, the Hagia Sophia was converted into an Ottoman mosque. Today, the monument is a museum serving both Christians and Muslims." — http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php?id=394
Details
The church was built 532 to 537 and the dome replaced in 563 after an earthquake.
[edit] Related Content from Wikipedia
Hagia Sophia (Thessaloniki)
The Hagia Sophia (Greek: ; Holy Wisdom) in Thessaloniki, Greece, is one of the oldest churches in that city still standing today.
History
As far back as the 3rd century, there was a church in the location of the current Hagia Sophia. In the 8th century, the present structure was erected, based on the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey). In 1205, when the Fourth Crusade captured the city, the Hagia Sophia was converted into the cathedral of Thessaloniki, which it remained after the city was returned to the Byzantine Empire in 1246. After the capture of Thessaloniki by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II on 29 March 1430, the church was converted into a mosque UNESCO, Advisory Body Evaluation, World Heritage List No. 456.
Its ground plan is that of a domed Greek cross basilica. Together with the Gül and the Kalenderhane Mosques in Istanbul and the destroyed Church of the Dormition in Nicaea, it represents one of the main architectural examples of this type, typical of the Byzantine middle period Krautheimer,317.
In the Iconoclastic era the apse of the church was embellished with plain gold mosaics with only one great cross, similarly to the Hagia Irene in Constantinople and the Church of the Dormition in Nicaea. The cross was substituted with the image of the Theotokos in 787-797 after the victory of the Iconodules. The mosaic in the dome now represents the Ascension of Jesus Christ with the inscription from Acts 1:11 "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?". The dome is ringed by the figures of all Twelve Apostles, the Virgin Mary and two angels.
Much of the interior decoration was plastered over after the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, and the dome was restored in 1980.Ayía Sofía
Hagia Sophia is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO
References
Bibliography
External links
de:Hagia Sophia (Thessaloniki)
it:Basilica di Santa Sofia (Tessalonica) ja:アギア・ソフィア聖堂 (テッサロニキ) ru:Храм Святой Софии (Салоники)
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Werner Blaser and Monica Stucky. Drawings of Great Buildings. Boston: Birkhauser Verlag, 1983. ISBN 3-7643-1522-9. LC 83-15831. NA2706.U6D72 1983. plan and section drawings, p49.
Francis D. K. Ching. Architecture: Form, Space, and Order. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1979. ISBN 0-442-21535-5. LC 79-18045. NA2760.C46. perspective sketch, p26. plan and section, p212.— A nice graphic introduction to architectural ideas. Updated 1996 edition available at Amazon.com
Roger H. Clark and Michael Pause. Precedents in Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985. nine squares diagram, p188.— Updated edition available at Amazon.com
Howard Davis. Slide from photographer's collection. PCD 2260.1012.0218.
Spiro Kostof. A History of Architecture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. ISBN 0-19-503472-4. LC 84-25375. NA200.K65 1985. p262, 263, fig 11.27, 11.28.
John Julius Norwich, ed. Great Architecture of the World. London: Mitchell Beazley Publishers, 1975. photos, cutaway drawings, p84-85.Reprint edition: Da Capo Press, April 1991. ISBN 0-3068-0436-0. — An accessible, inspiring and informative overview of world architecture, with lots of full-color cutaway drawings, and clear explanations. Available at Amazon.com
John Julius Norwich, ed. The World Atlas of Architecture. New York: Portland House, 1988. ISBN 0-517-66875-0. p180.
G. E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0-8109-3556-2. distant photo, p36, interior photo of dome, 37. — Available at Amazon.com
Henri Stierlin. Comprendre l'Architecture Universelle 1. Paris: Office du Livre S.A. Fribourg (Suisse), 1977. longitudinal section drawing, p111. transverse section drawing, p111. plan drawing, p110. nsite plan drawing of constantinople in the byzantine period, p109.
Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture, from Prehistory to Post-Modernism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986. ISBN 0-13-044702-1. NA200.T7. p171-174.
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Finalist in the New Seven Wonders international architectural landmarks contest.
