Sofia Byzantine Cathedral. Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Hagia Sophia in Istanbul or Hagia Sophia). Why did the construction of the temple require pipes from city fountains

This historical building is a witness to many events in ancient Constantinople (now Istanbul) and has a long history full of events: wars, fires, earthquakes, destruction.

The attraction is indicated in almost all tourist booklets, so you can imagine how popular this place is with tourists.

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The Cathedral of St. Sophia of Constantinople opened for parishioners in 537, almost 6 years after the first stone was laid at the laying of the shrine. What knowledge did the builders of Hagia Sophia need? During the construction, fragments of other destroyed temples, columns from the temple of Artemis, gold, silver and precious stones were used.

Even foreign ambassadors who came to Constantinople froze in admiration in front of the church of St. Sophia of Constantinople. This cathedral subsequently burned more than once, but each ruling emperor of that time ordered to rebuild the shrine anew.

After the conquest of Constantinople (1453), the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople became the Hagia Sophia Mosque. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Turkish government decided to turn Hagia Sophia into a museum.

This Istanbul landmark has several names: Hagia Sophia, St. Sophia Cathedral, Hagia Sophia of Constantinople. Translated from the Greek "Ayasophia" means "sacred wisdom."

At first glance, Hagia Sophia is unremarkable and has no special decorations - an ordinary building in a traditional style, of which there are a lot in Turkey. But if you first get into the courtyard, and then go inside the building, you understand that all the beauty is inside.

Even by modern standards, the building impresses with its size: 75 by 68 meters, the diameter of the huge dome is 31 meters, the height from the floor is 51 meters. More than 10 thousand workers were used in the construction, and construction technologies and successful design solutions were subsequently successfully applied in world architecture.

Initially, the cathedral did not look at all the way it is used to seeing today. Previously, the cathedral looked like a building with a large dome and a number of outbuildings on the sides. In the 15th century (after the conquest of Constantinople), the cross on the dome changed to a golden crescent, and the Cathedral became the Hagia Sophia Mosque.

4 minarets were added to the main building in the corners (by the way, the minarets were built in different time different sultans, so three minarets are made of white stone, and the fourth is made of red brick). After numerous fires and destruction in the 16th century, the mosque was decided to be restored and strengthened, stone buttresses were additionally attached, which served as some kind of support to prevent the building from “slipping”. And after the 16th century, the tombs of the great sultans began to be attached to the building.

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Interior decoration impresses with its magnificence. The vaulted ceilings are decorated with frescoes and stucco. After Constantinople was conquered by the Turks, all the frescoes in the cathedral were smeared with plaster, which is why they are so well preserved to this day, when during the restoration work the layer of plaster was removed and the frescoes were again revealed to the world.

Due to the color of the marble, the first two floors Hagia Sophia in Constantinople appear dark grey, almost black. And closer to the dome, especially the upper tiers, cast gold - because of the warm golden color of the frescoes and paintings on the dome.

The floor is paved with black and gray tiles, which have cracked and failed in places - these places are fenced off with special tapes. The walls are lavishly decorated with mosaics from the Byzantine period. This is mainly an ornamental mosaic, but at a later time images of saints and scenes of Christian life began to appear.

The mosaic image of the Mother of God is especially appreciated by historians., which can be seen on the apse (a semicircular niche with a vault at the altar). The mosaic is made, like all others, on a gold background, the clothes of the Mother of God are dark blue, and this combination of dark blue and gold reflects the spirit of Byzantine grandeur.

The altar and apse are very well preserved, next to it you can see the sultan's box (there was a sultan with his sons and associates during worship), and opposite was a box for the female half of the sultan's family. An important element of interior decoration are huge panels on the walls, made in classical traditions Ottoman calligraphy.

The museum is also famous for its huge collection of ancient icons. relating to different periods of the development of Christianity, as well as objects of Christian worship. Hagia Sophia has its own characteristics:

In the photo of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople), which can be found in large numbers, unique frescoes, mosaics and other decorations of the building are clearly visible.

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Turkey) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.

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The monumental building, surrounded by four slender minarets, is the center of attraction for all tourists arriving in Istanbul. 1500 years old, St. Sophia Cathedral amazes with its architecture, magnificent mosaics and easily perceptible aura of a place of power. On its walls, symbols of Christianity coexist with Arabic script, not mixing, but mutually complementing each other. There are few like it in the world historical buildings, which have retained their luxurious decoration, despite the complex vicissitudes of an extraordinary fate.

A bit of history

The Cathedral of St. Sophia was built on a hill, where until 360 there was a sanctuary of Artemis. It is said that in the 6th century an angel appeared to Emperor Justinian with a model of a grandiose temple in his hands. To implement the project, columns from Ephesus and Lebanon were brought to Byzantium, the altar was decorated with rubies, amethysts and pearls. Incredible luxury convinced the Russian ambassadors of the truth Orthodox faith, and they recommended that Prince Vladimir accept it. However, in 1453 Constantinople fell, Sultan Mehmet rode a horse into the temple and ordered the building to be rebuilt into a mosque. The imprint of his bloodied hand is still visible on the wall near the altar.

The Turks erected minarets, whitewashed the mosaics, curtained the walls with camel skins with surahs from the Koran inscribed in gold. For a long 500 years, Hagia Sophia became the largest Muslim shrine after the Kaaba. Only in 1935 Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern secular Turkey, transformed it into a museum by a special decree.

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Architecture and interior

The main volume of the Cathedral of St. Sophia under a huge dome 51 m high forms a crossroads, that is, the intersection of the main and additional halls in the form of a cross. Such a layout for several centuries became mandatory for Christian churches. Powerful columns rise at the corners of the central nave, on which the arches of the vault rest. Its diameter is 31 m, windows are cut in the lower part, creating the illusion of the entire structure floating in the air.

From the mosaics in the interior, one can study the evolution of Byzantine art over several centuries. The image of the Mother of God sitting on the throne in the apse is striking in its humanity and spirituality. Above the entrance to the temple, Jesus Christ blessing the pilgrims is laid out, and in front of him is the kneeling emperor.

After converting the cathedral into a mosque, the Muslims built a carved marble minbar, the pulpit from which the mullah addresses the faithful. It is not located in the place of the altar, but is shifted to the southeast so that the worshipers face Mecca. A surprise for the restorers was the discovery of runic inscriptions left on the steps and parapets by the Varangians of the Byzantine guard.

A long line lined up at one of the columns. It is said that accidentally touching it cured Emperor Justinian of a continuous headache. It is believed that if you lean your forehead against a stone, think of a wish, insert your finger into the hole and turn it clockwise, then the wish will certainly come true.

Practical information

Address: Istanbul, Cankurtaran Mh., Soguk Cesme Sk 14-36. Website (in English).

How to get there: by tram T1 or bus TV2 to the stop. Sultanahmet.

Opening hours: daily from 15.04 to 30.10 from 9:00 to 19:00, from 30.10 to 15.04 from 9:00 to 15:00. The time of visiting the museum is limited on the first days of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha. Audio guides in Russian are sold at the entrance.

Ticket price: 72 TRY. Prices on the page are for November 2019.

The history of the cathedral of the period of the Byzantine Empire.

Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is the most grandiose and most outstanding work of Byzantine architecture. It is one of the most significant monuments of world architecture.

Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, today's Istanbul, was rebuilt three times. The first construction in 330 AD was started by Constantine the Great himself, the emperor of Byzantium. In 360 it was completed, the temple was called "Megalo Eklesia" - the Big Church. But in 404, it, unfortunately, burned down in a fire. However, the Great Cathedral was not forgotten: on wooden foundation of the former grandiose structure, a new, more stable building of the temple is being built. Church services began in the new temple on October 10, 416. In 532, the great temple again suffered from a bloody rebellion and was rebuilt again - by the emperor Justinian, in 532-537. It is such a temple, built in 532-537, that rises today in Istanbul.

Architecture and interior of the cathedral.

The church was built by the architects Anthimius of Thrall and Isidore of Miletus. It had a centric composition, reached a height of 55 m, its central square space in plan was covered with a flattened dome with a diameter of 33 m. wide, lateral - narrower.

The giant domed system of the cathedral became a masterpiece of architectural thought of its time. The stability of the vault, and the repayment of horizontal conditions, is ensured by two semi-domes, which are supported on the same pylons on both sides along the longitudinal axis of the temple.

Saint Sophie Cathedral. Interior.

The interior of the temple is striking in its lightness. The central dome of Sofia is supported on two sides by two lower semi-domes, and these, in turn, each have two more small semi-domes. Thus, the entire elongated space of the middle nave forms a system of spherical forms growing upwards, towards the center, and smoothly passing into each other. Their center, that is, the space under the main large dome, is clearly accentuated, all movement rushes towards it. The architects managed to achieve a special impression - the dome seems to ascend only with the help of the rhythmic rise of half-domes and sails. Forty windows cut through the thin shell of the domed base between its ribs at the bottom. Light flows through them. And from below, to those praying, the dome seemed to be floating in the air, since the thin parts of the wall between the windows are not visible. This effect is also facilitated by the fact that the four powerful pillars that carry the dome, on which the heels of the arches rest, remain almost invisible to the viewer. They are skillfully disguised by thin light partitions and are perceived simply as piers. Only arches and sails are clearly visible - spherical triangles between the arches. These sails with their wide base form a circle - the base of the dome, and narrow ones are turned down. This creates a deceptive feeling that the dome easily rises, supported only by sails.

Saint Sophie Cathedral. Decoration.

The richest materials are gold, silver, ivory, precious stones. They were used in incredible numbers and used with amazing skill. In the large domed space, there stood a decorated precious stones pulpit of pure gold. The brilliance of the marble wall cladding, the shimmer of gold, the picturesque play of light and shadow - all this poured a mysterious life into the vast space of the cathedral. On the vaults of the dome and apses, as well as on the walls, there were huge decorative mosaics. All those who saw Sophia unanimously testified to the extraordinary shimmering of the mosaic canvases, both in the evening and in the daylight. Especially at sunrise and sunset, when the rays penetrated the dome and illuminated the vaults well. At night, on major holidays, the church turned into a vast, magnificently illuminated space, since, according to Byzantine writers, no less than six thousand gilded candelabra illuminated it.

In the apse there is a throne image of the Mother of God, holding in front of her on her knees the baby Christ. Two archangels were depicted on the arches of the vima on either side of the figure of the Virgin.

During the reign of Emperor Leo VI, the lunette of the narficus was decorated with a mosaic depicting Jesus Christ sitting on a throne with the Gospel, opened with the words “Peace be with you. I am the light of the world”, in the left hand and blessing with the right. On either side of it in medallions are depicted half-figures of the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Michael. To the left of Jesus, the kneeling Emperor Leo VI was depicted.

The mosaics of Hagia Sophia are an example of Byzantine monumental art from the period of the Macedonian dynasty. The mosaics show all three stages in the development of metropolitan neoclassicism, as they were made in three periods: around the middle of the 9th century, at the turn of the 9th-10th centuries and at the end of the 10th century.

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Hagia Sophia is one of the monumental monuments of history that managed to survive until the 21st century and at the same time not lose its former grandeur and energy, which is difficult to describe. Once the largest temple in Byzantium, later transformed into a mosque, today stands before us as the most original museum in Istanbul. This is one of the few complexes in the world where two religions are intertwined at once - Islam and Christianity.

Often the cathedral is called the eighth wonder of the world, and, of course, today it is one of them. The monument carries a huge historical value, so it was included in the list cultural heritage UNESCO. How did it happen that in one complex Christian mosaics coexist with Arabic script? The incredible story of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul will tell us about this.

Short story

It was not immediately possible to build the grandiose temple of Hagia Sophia and immortalize it in time. The first two churches erected on the site of the modern shrine stood for only a few decades, and both buildings were destroyed by large fires. The third cathedral began to be rebuilt in the 6th century during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. More than 10 thousand people were involved in the construction of the structure, which made it possible to build a temple of such incredible proportions in just five years. Hagia Sophia in Constantinople for a whole millennium remained the main Christian church in the Byzantine Empire.

In 1453, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror attacked the capital of Byzantium and subjugated it, but did not destroy the great cathedral. The Ottoman ruler was so impressed by the beauty and scale of the basilica that he decided to convert it into a mosque. So, minarets were added to the former church, it received a new name of Aya Sofya and for 500 years served as the main city mosque for the Ottomans. It is noteworthy that subsequently the Ottoman architects took as an example the Hagia Sophia in the construction of such eminent Islamic temples as Suleymaniye and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. For a detailed description of the latter, see.

After the split Ottoman Empire and the coming to power of Ataturk in Aya Sofya, work began on the restoration of Christian mosaics and frescoes, and in 1934 it was given the status of a museum and a monument of Byzantine architecture, which becomes a symbol of the coexistence of two great religions. Over the past two decades, many independent organizations in Turkey dealing with issues of historical heritage have repeatedly filed a lawsuit to return the status of a mosque to the museum. Today, it is forbidden to hold Muslim services within the walls of the complex, and many believers see this decision as an infringement of religious freedom. Nevertheless, the Turkish court remains relentless in its verdicts and continues to reject such claims.

Architecture and interior decoration

Hagia Sophia in Turkey is a rectangular basilica of classical form with three naves, to the western part of which are adjoined by two vestibules. The length of the temple is 100 meters, the width is 69.5 meters, the height of the dome is 55.6 meters, and its diameter is 31 meters. The main material in the construction of the building was marble, but light bricks made of clay and sand were also used. In front of the façade of Hagia Sophia, there is a courtyard, in the middle of which there is a fountain. And nine doors lead to the museum itself: in the old days, only the emperor himself could use the central one.

But no matter how majestic the church looks from the outside, the true masterpieces of architecture are contained in its interior decoration. The hall of the basilica consists of two galleries (upper and lower), made of marble, specially brought to Istanbul from Rome. The lower tier is decorated with 104 columns, and the upper tier - 64. It is almost impossible to find a section in the cathedral that has not been decorated. The interior features numerous frescoes, mosaics, silver and gold coatings, terracotta and Ivory. There is a legend saying that Justinian originally planned to decorate the temple entirely of gold, but the soothsayers dissuaded him, predicting the times of beggars and greedy emperors who would not leave a trace of such a luxurious building.

Byzantine mosaics and frescoes are of particular value in the cathedral. They have survived quite well, largely due to the fact that the Ottomans who came to Constantinople simply plastered Christian images, thereby preventing their destruction. With the advent of the Turkish conquerors in the capital, the interior of the temple was supplemented by a mihrab (a Muslim likeness of an altar), a sultan's bed and a marble minbar (a pulpit in a mosque). Also, traditional Christian candles left the interior, which were replaced by chandeliers from lamps.

In the original performance, Aya Sofya in Istanbul was illuminated by 214 windows, but over time, due to additional buildings in the shrine, only 181 of them remained. In total, there are 361 doors in the cathedral, one hundred of which are covered with various symbols. Rumor has it that every time they are counted, there are new, previously unseen doors. Under the ground part of the structure, underground passages were found, flooded groundwater. During one of the studies of such tunnels, scientists found a secret passage leading from the cathedral to another. Jewelry and human remains were also found here.

The decoration of the museum is so rich that it is almost impossible to describe it briefly, and not a single photo of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul can convey the grace, atmosphere and energy that are inherent in this place. Therefore, be sure to visit this unique historical monument and see for yourself its grandeur.

How to get there

Hagia Sophia is located on Saltanahmed Square, called Fatih. The distance from Ataturk Airport to the attraction is 20 km. If you plan to visit the temple immediately upon arrival in the city, then you can get to the place by taxi or by public transport represented by metro and tram.

You can get to the metro directly from the airport building, following the appropriate signs. You need to take the M1 line and get to Zeytinburnu station. The fare will be 2.6 tl. Upon exiting the subway, you will have to walk a little more than a kilometer to the east along Seyit Nizam Street, where the stop of the tram line T 1 Kabataş - Bağcılar is located (price per trip 1.95 tl). You need to get off at the Sultanahmet stop, and literally after 300 meters you will find yourself at the cathedral.

If you are going to the temple not from the airport, but from some other point in the city, then in this case you also need to get on the T 1 tram line and disembark at the Sultanahmet stop.

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Practical information

The exact address: Sultanahmet Meydanı, Fatih, İstanbul, Türkiye.

Opening hours: in the period from April 15 to October 30, the doors of the cathedral are open to the public from 09:00 to 19:00. The last ticket can be purchased no later than 18:00. From October 30 to April 15, the attraction is open from 09:00 to 17:00. Ticket offices are available until 16:00.

As of September 2018, the entrance fee to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is 40 tl. However, from October 1, 2018, the Turkish authorities are raising the cost of entrance tickets to more than 50 museums in the country, including Hagia Sophia. So, with the onset of the specified date, the price for entering the temple will be 60 tl. This increase is due to the difficult economic situation, prevailing in Turkey, as well as a sharp depreciation of the Turkish lira against the dollar and the euro.

Sophia Cathedral is not named in honor of St. Sophia, as one might think, but in honor of Jesus Christ.
In Greek, Σοφία is "wisdom". The apostle Paul speaks directly about Jesus Christ in his epistle as about God's Power and God's Wisdom (1 Cor 1 :24).

Dossier of the Cathedral:

Building: 532–537

Architectural style: Transition
from basilica to cross-domed church

Founder: Emperor Justinian I

Status: Hagia Sophia Museum

How to find Hagia Sophia (download map):

Address: Sultan Ahmet Mahallesi, Ayasofya Meydanı, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey

Architectural features of the cathedral:

Above the altar there is a mosaic depicting the Mother of God on a throne, in whose hands the infant Christ. This is the first figurative mosaic created in the 9th century after the period of iconoclasm.

To lighten the dome, they used a brick made of white spongy clay, which was mined on the island of Rhodes. Such a brick weighed 12 times lighter than usual.

Dome pressure (1) dissipates with half domes (2) , which, in turn, are based on "quarters" (3) . Thus, the load is evenly distributed over the entire structure. Due to the absence of columns directly under the dome, the space visually increases in size and the dome seems to “float” in the air.

In the courtyard of the temple stood a quadriga of bronze horses by the sculptor Lysippus (approximately the 4th century BC). Initially, she was in Corinth, but then she was transferred to Rome, and from there to Constantinople. In 1204, the crusaders plundered the temple and took the sculpture with them. It was installed on the facade of the Cathedral of St. Mark in Venice. Now in their place are exact copies, the original is in the museum of the cathedral. Until now, the exact composition of the alloy from which the sculpture was cast remains unknown.

A fresco with Emperor Leo VI (816-912) is located above the royal gates - the entrance to the temple, which was used only by the emperor. Jesus Christ is depicted in the center, Emperor Leo VI is kneeling at the bottom left. This is an uncharacteristic image for the ruler of the Byzantine Empire. Researchers suggest that it is associated with the fourth non-canonical marriage of the emperor, after which the patriarch refused to marry him and did not let him into the temple.

Eight porphyry columns (dark red) taken from the temple of the Sun were brought to the temple of Hagia Sophia from Rome. From Ephesus was delivered by eight columns of green marble, which used to stand in the temple of Artemis. There is an assumption that the story with the columns is a later legend.

1) What did Emperor Justinian say when he entered the completed Hagia Sophia?

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2) Why did the construction of the temple require pipes from the city fountains?

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3) What is the connection of the Hagia Sophia with Kyiv, Veliky Novgorod and Polotsk?

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