Haghia Sofia

Looking from the outside one might be disappointed: it looks little elegant. But don't miss to see the inside. There are only few churches world wide just as impressive as Haghia Sophia.

The Haghia Sophia Church was erected and re-erected through the centuries many times. We know that there were a few wooden churches before at the same place and probably with the same name. Some of them burned down, some were destroyed by earthquakes, for which the region was famous for as we still can see today. It is likely that the first church from stone was built there somewhat in the 5th century. What we see today is essentially the Justinian´s church. After 1453, when Sultan Mehmet II Fatih converted the church into a mosque, the for minarets were added at various times. In 1847-9 Sultan Abdul Mecit employed the Swiss-Italian architects Gaspare and Guiseppe Fossati to restore the "Aya Sofya". In 1934 the mosque was closed again and later reopened - as a museum! This is the reason why you have to pay entry - you wouldn't have to pay for a church or mosque.

So the Haghia Sophia is a symbol for the development and the history of the whole region. Erected on a place where in ancient times presumably Greek gods were adored in a temple, in Roman times the church was a center of Christianity, then converted to a mosque after the Conquest and finally opened to the public as a museum in the Turkish Republik. No wonder that there are some efforts of Islamic groups to get back the sovereignty over Haghia Sophia, for this place is a pars pro toto of the whole country itself.

The diameter of the dome is in width about 31 meters and in length about 33 meters. (originally it has been 33 times 33 meters but with that size, the architects could not get rid of the statically problems). The crown is soaring 56 meters above the ground.

It is a pity that only little remains of the mosaics that once decorated the church - Islamic religion does not tolerate figurative illustrations, and of course the worship of the saints does not fit in the concept of Islamic religion at all. Nevertheless under the plaster some have survived and are partly restored today.