How Hagia Sophia was Built
Construction of the Byzantine Church
Emperor Justinian hired ten thousand skilled craftsmen to complete Hagia Sophia. There were stonecutters, brick masons, carpenters, glassblowers, marble workers, sculptors, goldsmiths, and other artists. Only the finest materials were used for the interior of the church. Red, green, and white marble covered the floors and walls. Ivory, silver and gold decorated carved wooden doors. Silk hangings, from the newly established silk weaving industry in Constantinople, decorated the doorways. Justinian wanted to pave the sanctuary floor in silver, but was talked out of doing so by his advisors. They pointed out that such a costly floor could be pried up by future emperors, if they needed money. In today’s money, it would cost about three billion dollars to build Hagia Sophia!
Problems with Hagia Sophia
Because of Justinian’s impatience to finish the church, the structure of Hagia Sophia suffered. Bricklayers used more mortar than bricks when building the outer walls, and they often did not wait for one layer of mortar to dry before starting the next layer. The results were walls that bowed out slightly. These uneven walls would not support the massive weight of the great dome. In 557, an earthquake caused the dome to collapse. When it was rebuilt, architects made the dome twenty feet higher, bringing it up to its current height of 184 feet. The weakened walls were also repaired to give the new dome proper support.
The End of an Empire
When Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Hagia Sophia, one of the greatest symbols of Christianity, was converted to an Islamic mosque. Because pictures of living creatures are forbidden in Islam, the beautiful mosaics that adorned the walls and ceilings of Hagia Sophia were covered over by plaster. In place of the mosaics, Muslim artists painted beautiful Islamic symbols and calligraphy. Over the next six hundred years, many changes were made to Hagia Sophia. Four minarets, or towers, were added, one at a time. From these minarets a muezzin, or caller, would call all the Muslims of Constantinople, now called Istanbul, to prayer five times a day. In 1935, Hagia Sophia was converted into a Museum by the government of the new Republic of Turkey. Called the Ayasofya Museum, it is open to visitors from all over the world every day, except Mondays.
Hagia Sophia Today
Currently there are restoration efforts to uncover the beautiful mosaics of the Byzantine era. However, in order to remove the plaster, many beautiful Islamic pieces of art would have to be destroyed. Restorers have tried to keep a balance between the two religions, but it is difficult. Hagia Sophia is not just a beautiful building. It embodies the story of the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire, and continues to amaze people all over the world with its magnificent architecture.
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