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Check the information below, and know more about the Hagia Sophia cathedral. |
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HAGIA
SOPHIA |
Istanbul,
Turkey |
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The Church of Hagia
Sophia, associated with one of the greatest creative ages of man,
was also the Cathedral of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
for more than one thousand years. Originally known as the Great Church,
because of its large size in comparison with the other churches of
the then Christian World, it was later given the name of Hagia Sophia,
the Holy Wisdom of Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Justinian conceived the
grandiose project of rebuilding the Great Church from its foundations.
Nothing like it was ever built before or after. Construction work
lasted five years (532-537) and on December 27, 537, Patriarch Menas
consecrated the magnificent church.The new Hagia Sophia belongs
to the transitional type of the domed Basilica. Its most remarkable
feature is the huge dome supported by four massive piers, each measuring
approximately 100 square meters, at the base. Four arches swing across,
linked by four pendentives. The apices of the arches and the pendentives
support the circular base from which rises the main dome, pierced
by forty single-arched windows.
Beams of light stream through the windows and illuminate the interior,
decomposing the masses and creating an impression of infinite space.
Twelve large windows in two rows, seven in the lower and five in
the upper, pierce the tympana of the north and south arches above
the arched colonnades of the aisles and galleries. The thrust of the dome
is countered by the two half-domes opening east and west, the smaller
conchs of the bays at the four corners of the nave, and the massive
outside buttresses to the north and south. The esonarthex and exonarthex,
to the west, are both roofed by cross vaults. Two roofed cochliae
(inclined ramps), north and south of the esonarthex, lead up to
the galleries. The vast rectangular atrium extending west of the
exonarthex had a peristyle along its four sides. At the center stood
the phiale [fountain of purification] with the well known inscription
that could be read from left to right and from right to left: "Cleanse
our sins, not only our face". The church measures 77
x 79 meters and the impressive huge dome soaring 62 meters above the floor
has a diameter of about 33 meters According to R. van Nice, a scholar
well versed in the problems posed by the architecture of Hagia Sophia.
The nave is 38.07 meters wide, more than twice the width of the aisles,
which measure 18.29 meters each.
The vertical planes formed between the two north and the two south
piers by the arcades of the aisles and galleries and the tympana
above them are aligned flush with the side of the piers facing the
nave. Thus, the mass of the piers is pushed aside into the aisles
and galleries. By this clever arrangement the bearing structure
is hidden from the eye, creating the impression that space expands
in all directions and that the dome floats in the air.At this point we would
add the following historical evidence, which we believe will be
found interesting. Written sources refer to "the number of
clerics appointed to the service of the most holy Great Church of
Constantinople. " The records list a total of 600 persons assigned
to serve in Hagia Sophia: 80 priests, 150 deacons, 40 deaconesses,
60 subdeacons, 160 readers, 25 chanters, 75 doorkeepers. Another
source reveals the extent of destruction and pillage which Constantinople
suffered in the hands of the Catholic Crusaders after 1204 and the
difficulties that the great church had to face from the 13th century
onwards.
Paspatis writes: "In 1396, during the patriarchy of Callistus
II, a note was made in the second volume of patriarchal documents
[Millosich-Muller] listing all the existing gold and silver sacred
vessels, hieratic vestments, crosses, gospel-books and holy relics.
The destitution of the celebrated church, looted by the Latin Crusaders
became evident. I mention the most important objects, from which
pillagers removed pearls and other ornaments of gold in later times.
The church had: nine gospel-books,
two of which remained in the church for the use of the priests,
while the other seven much adorned the representations of embossed
gold, were kept in the Skeuophylakion; five craters ...fourteen
patens and chalices; six lavides (spoons); six silver asterisks;
four candelabra by the entrance; sixteen ripidia (fans); eight crosses
containing splinters of the True Cross and adorned with gold, silver
and pearls; four aer (large veils); twenty-six chalice veils and
four patriarachal staffs; also a few icons, hieratic vestments and
some relics of saints that had escaped the rapacious Crusaders..." On Tuesday,
May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror entered the vanquished
city late in the afternoon and rode to Hagia Sophia. He was amazed
at its beauty and decided to convert the Cathedral into his imperial
mosque. |
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