Hagia Sophia 05

Hagia Sophia and the fountain at night from Topkapi, Istanbul, Turkey. Full pano.... more

by Weston Westmoreland

Title

Hagia Sophia 05

Artist

Weston Westmoreland

Medium

Photograph

Description

Hagia Sophia and the fountain at night from Topkapi, Istanbul, Turkey. Full pano.

This is probably the side from where I like Hagia Sophia most. Hagia Sophia, "Holy Wisdom", was built to be the main church of the Eastern Roman capital city of Constantinople by Justinian I in 537 AD. It was turned by Mehmed II into the main Ottoman Mosque after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and finally became a museum in 1935 after the fall of the Ottoman empire itself and the birth of the state of Turkey by the hand of Ataturk.

Hagia Sophia was famous for its massive dome supported by two half domes, which were themselves supported by three smaller half domes each creating the characteristic cascade structure. It was the world's largest building, an engineering marvel of its time and the summit of Byzantine architecture. It remained the world's largest cathedral for almost ten centuries, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520.

Saint Sophia was designed by the Greek Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The Byzantine architecture of Hagia Sophia served as inspiration for many other Ottoman mosques, including the Blue Mosque, the Fatih Mosque or the Süleymaniye Mosque. None of them reached the size of the original.

More images of the Roman, Ottoman and Byzantine capital one copy-paste away at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/istanbul

Weston Westmoreland

Uploaded

September 17th, 2019