Church Of The Divine Wisdom
“There has not been “an incident in Byzantine history with which the church of St. Sophia is not associated.”1
The Church of the Divine Wisdom has a long and storied history, much of it drenched in the blood of those who died fighting over it. On May 28, 1453, Constantine XI entered Hagia Sophia to pray while the crowning jewel of his empire, Constantinople, was being raided and burned by Mehmed II, a Muslim invader with an extensive army at his back. The emperor prayed at the church before climbing back atop the city walls to watch his defenses fail. By the end of the day Constantinople and the Hagia Sophia had fallen into enemy hands.
Theories about the original church abound, most dating the original structure to be from the reign of …show more content…
The Hagia Sophia’s dome was a point of concern during its reconstruction, as the weight of the dome was said to be too great to stand without collapse; however, architect Sinan called for the construction of buttresses to reinforce the dome’s downward pressure on the overall structure, creating a much more stable building. Additionally, forty windows were inserted into the base of the dome to reduce its weight; these windows have given the Hagia Sophia its trademark interior appearance, where the incoming light appears to make the dome overhead float, as well was bouncing rays of light off the interior …show more content…
Both dome arches have collapsed and been rebuilt; during a period of iconoclasm, entire portions of the church and its decorations were removed, shipped, and stored; twice the original church designs burnt to the ground. Though many disasters have befallen the Hagia Sophia, its overall design and idea have endured the ages. The church as we know it now was completed in 562 A.D., almost 1500 years in the past, and the building continues to stand as a testament to faith and solid Byzantine construction techniques. Short of the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Hagia Sophia stands alone as an ancient example of man’s creativity and skill, and how those can be wielded to shape man’s faith in God, and in
The Church of the Divine Wisdom has a long and storied history, much of it drenched in the blood of those who died fighting over it. On May 28, 1453, Constantine XI entered Hagia Sophia to pray while the crowning jewel of his empire, Constantinople, was being raided and burned by Mehmed II, a Muslim invader with an extensive army at his back. The emperor prayed at the church before climbing back atop the city walls to watch his defenses fail. By the end of the day Constantinople and the Hagia Sophia had fallen into enemy hands.
Theories about the original church abound, most dating the original structure to be from the reign of …show more content…
The Hagia Sophia’s dome was a point of concern during its reconstruction, as the weight of the dome was said to be too great to stand without collapse; however, architect Sinan called for the construction of buttresses to reinforce the dome’s downward pressure on the overall structure, creating a much more stable building. Additionally, forty windows were inserted into the base of the dome to reduce its weight; these windows have given the Hagia Sophia its trademark interior appearance, where the incoming light appears to make the dome overhead float, as well was bouncing rays of light off the interior …show more content…
Both dome arches have collapsed and been rebuilt; during a period of iconoclasm, entire portions of the church and its decorations were removed, shipped, and stored; twice the original church designs burnt to the ground. Though many disasters have befallen the Hagia Sophia, its overall design and idea have endured the ages. The church as we know it now was completed in 562 A.D., almost 1500 years in the past, and the building continues to stand as a testament to faith and solid Byzantine construction techniques. Short of the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Hagia Sophia stands alone as an ancient example of man’s creativity and skill, and how those can be wielded to shape man’s faith in God, and in