Hagia Sophia, which was accepted as the greatest and most sacred piece  of the city during the Byzantine age, is today a museum that the visi-tors admire as an unrivaled architectural masterpiece. Hagia Sophia is a Roman monument constructed in the Byzantine Age. Despite the new techniques and inventions in architecture during the 800 years period from the construction of the church till the demolition of the Empire, no other building could be constructed to surpass Hagia Sophia.
Hagia Sophia, which was used as a church for 916 years since the date it was constructed (537), until the date when Istanbul was conquered. As of this date until the year of 1934, served the Moslems as a mosque for 481 years. After an extended restoration with the instruction given by the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in order to bring the Byzantine mosaics which were coated with stucco in 1750 into daylight, the building was opened to the visitors as a museum in February 1935 and it is the 3rd museum which is most visited in Turkey. The name Hagia Sophia, is one of the 3 adjectives dedicated to the God in Christianity. These 3 adjectives are defined as Hagia Sophia (Divine Wisdom), Hagia Irene (Divine Peace) and Hagia Dynamis (Divine Power).

HISTORY

In 360, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine had a great structure named Megalo Ekklesia' (the Great Church), constructed in the city center, where Hagia Sophia is standing today.
Between the years of 404 - 416, a bigger and more lasting church was constructed by the architect Ruffinos on the foundations of this wooden building, which was completely burnt during a fire on June 20th, 404 and it was opened for the public on October 10!h, 4l6. The financier of this second church, with 3 naved basilica design, was Emperor Theodosius. The foundation walls, stairs and the sheep designed pediment friezes of the building just in front of Hagia Sophia are seen at the entrance of the museum. They were irreparably destroyed by the rebels against the Emperor during the sanguinary Nika (Victory) revolt, which began on January 13th and 14th, 532.
After the Nika revolt, Emperor Justinian, who met his throne again, had the present church constructed. He gave the task of constructing this church to the two most famous Anatolian architects of the time, mathematician Anthemius of Tralles (today's Aydin city) and Isidorus from Miletus.
The best construction material and the best masons were brought to the city from all over the country, and for the 5 years, over 100 masters and 10.000 laborers worked in the construction. The marble used for the inner decoration of the church were transported from all the Mediterranean countries, and especially from the marble quarries in Anatolia. The four green granite columns on both sides of the nave were brought from the Harbor Gymnasium in Ephesus, the pairs of porphyry columns at the corners were brought from the Apollon Temple in Baalbek (in Lebanon today).
Special tiles and bricks were brought from the Island of Rhodes in order to built the giant dome with lighter material. A total sum of 107 columns were used in the building and 40 of them are in the nave, the rest 67 in the galleries upstairs.
In the Iconoclastic Era that started in 726, the mosaics concerning the religious scenes and holy personalities of all churches together with Hagia Sophia's were destroyed and simple cross shapes were decorated instead. With the end of this era in 843, religious pictures were allowed again and Hagia Sophia was redecorated with frescoes and mosaics, generally ordered by the emperors. During the Latin invasion in 1204, the treasury was plundered by the Crusaders.
The mosaics with gold colored background were ruined to a large extend. In this period, Hagia Sophia was used as the Catholic Master Church. When the Latin invaders abandoned the city in 1261, the church came into use as an Orthodox church again. Hagia Sophia was damaged badly because of the earthquakes in 14lh and lSlh centuries and it was neglected.
Following the conquest, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, performed the Friday service in Hagia Sophia on 3rd of June, 1453. He reseived the necessary fund to restore and save the building.
Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque. With this fund, first a niche was constructed in the Kaaba direction, then a brick minaret and a madrasah with 12 rooms. A courtyard and a cistern in place of the chamber, where the rooms of the clergy used to be, were constructed outside in front of the building.
The mosaics were covered with thin lime; the cross shapes on the wall were engraved, and vertical sides of the cross shapes on the doors were extracted; by this way, without giving much damage to the building, the place was made suitable for the Moslem service. The most extended restoration carried out in Hagia Sophia in the Ottoman times was the one made by the Swedish Gaspare and Trajano FOSSATI brothers between the years of 1847 and 1849. The architects, who came to Istanbul in 1837 in order to repair the Russian Embassy, in respect with the wish of the Ottoman administration, reinforced the dome of Hagia Sophia with 2 chains, adjusted 12 inclined columns, fixed the madrasah, which was destroyed in 1479 and built the cloakroom in the garden. The sultan's lodge inside the nave is the work of the same people.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS

Hagia Sophia, which suits the '3 nave domed basilica' description as an architectural design, is the first construction of this type. Hagia Sophia is also the construction where the 'pendentives' decorated with the drawings of Cherubim angeis, from the 14th century, were used for the first time.
The 55.6 m. high dome is one of the 5 highest domes not only in Istanbul and in Turkey, but also in the whole world. After the earthquake in 553, the dome was 6.5 m. heightened and reconstructed between the years of 558 - 562. Since it could not be built round, it has an ellipse shape and the diameter is 31 m. on one axis and 33 m. on the other.
The main area of this total 100 m. long and 7.570 m2 large construction is 75 m. to 70 m. The narthex that is located just at the entrance is around 60 m. long, 11 m. wide.

NARTHEXES

There is no ornamentation on the walls and ceiling of this part, which is the preparation place before praying. A few panels of mosaics, which were brought here from various constructions, one tomb brought from Zeyrek and high relief panels of the resolutions decided in the consul held in the 12th century can be seen here.
There are 9 cross shaped arcades on the ceiling which is in a very bad condition because of humidity.
On the inner cornices of the door that provides the passage from the outer narthex to the inner narthex, MDCCCXLVII is written; the date of 1847 with roman figures.
Furthermore, the crosses, whose horizontal axles were extracted in the Ottoman Period, can also be seen on the door folds. The amazingly beautiful ornaments of the construction begin as of the inner narthex. By placing colourful marble panels symmetrically on the wall, the lines of the stones create mystic figures. The ceilings of this part are completely covered with golden mosaics.
A 16.000 m2 area within the construction is decorated with marble paving called Tesserae, and colourful stone pieces. This area is more than two times the total area of the church itself. There are 9 doors for the passage from the inner narthex to the main residence. 3 of these    doors, placed on either side, were for public use.
The big door in the very center belonged to the Emperor, and the relatively lower entrances were for the high ranking officials and directors and the escorts, accompanied the emperor.
The golden plating of the Emperor's door and the silver plating of the two doors on both sides of it were taken off during the Latin invasion. Above the Emperor's door, there is a mosaic dated as the 9ch century with Jesus Christ in the middle, and in the medallions on the left and right side of it, there are Virgin Mary and Arc Angel Gabriel.

NAVE

Entering the nave from the inner narthex, the first thing that draws the attention is the magnificence of the dome that looks as if it is an independent piece from the church itself. In the center of the dome, around which there are 40 windows, was the painting of Jesus Christ from the Byzantine period.
After the conquest, the painting was covered with verses of the Koran. On the triangular pendentives which carries the dome and placed between the arches at four corners, there is the pictures of Cherubim angels with 3 wings. The faces of the angels, that are 11 m. long, are in lion, bull, eagle and angel shapes, and each one is covered with one polygonal star.
The portrayals of Ignatios, patriarch of Constantinople in 9th century, 4th century patriarch, John Crysostom, and the patriarch of Antiochia (Antakya today) of 2nd century, Ignatios Theophoros are seen on the side wall under the windows to the left of the entrance. The 1.250 It. giant marble containers, placed on the left and right side of the entrance are brought from the ancient city of Pergamon in l6lh century.
The rectangular marble column placed just at the beginning of the left isle, is named as the 'crying column' or 'sweating column'. It is believed that if you insert your thumb in the hole on the column a little bit damp inside and make one complete circle, the wish comes true.
The Arabic written huge plates on the side walls and the corners, have the names of the leading personalities of Islam.
On the right side of the niche, the name Allah (God), on the left 'Muhammed', on the side walls, the four initial Caliphs of Islam; Ebu Bekir, Omer, Osman and AH, and on both sides of the entrance, the grandsons of the prophet, Hasan and Hüseyin names are placed. These 7.5 m. wide round plates are accepted as some of the greatest examples of calligraphy in the world of Islam. The place to the left of the apse is the Sultan's lodge, while the steps on the right side is the pulpit, where the imam preaches on Fridays. And just in front of the pulpit, there is the Preacher's Throne, which is a 16th century piece of art, and where the Koran is read either in or on it.
The hand print, which is seen on the wall by the red porphyry columns to the right of the apse, is dedicated to Virgin Mary. This marble piece was brought here from Theotokos Church, which is an other Byzantine work in Istanbul. On the right isle, there is the Hagia Sophia Library, which was moved from the Palace Library in the reign of Sultan Mahmut 1. in the 18th century.
The mosaic panel, which is the best protected one in the church, is over the side door of the inner narthex, that the emperors used as the entrance in the Byzantine period, whereas it is used as the exit today.
In this panel there is Virgin Mary seated on a throne in the center with baby Christ. The Emperor Constantine is on the right, and Emperor Justinian on the left. In the hands of Constantine the Great, there is the model of the city and in Justinian's, there is the model of the church. Both emperors dedicated their proud works to Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.

GALLERIES

You can reach the upper floor, that was used by the women during the service and the consuls, with an inclined thoroughfare to the left of the inner narthex.
This structure was preferred instead of stairs by the order of the queen, who was praying with the other women, in order not to disturb the queen as she was carried on shoulders with a litter to the upstairs.
The cross shaped wooden stretchers between the arcades in the central gallery, just to the opposite side of the niche, are elegant hand made artifacts, that you can only find similar ones in the Catherina Monastery in Sina Desert.
The south gallery to the right side of the entrance is the most attractive part of the upper galleries.
On the marble panels at the left hand side, there are the writings that are described as a hearsay remained from the Vikings, who visited Istanbul. The engraved marble portal at the entrance of the right wing of the gallery is named as the 'Heaven's Door'. At the back side of this portal, you can see two cross motives.
When you pass through the portal on the right side, there is probably the most beautiful and most attractive mosaic of Hagia Sophia.
Very fine and colourful mosaic tiles were used for this scene, in which Jesus Christ, Mother Mary and John the Baptist appears together, although this panel suffered great damage during the Latin invasion, the mosaics still has a very high artistic value.
The scene named as Deisis' dates back to l4th century and depicts Mother Mary and John the Baptist asking Jesus Christ, in grief, for the sinful to be sent to heaven.
At the end of the gallery, there are two other mosaic panels with different emperors and their families depicted together with holy personalities. Emperor Comnenos, his Hungarian originated wife Irene and their son Alexius are portrayed with Virgin Mary and baby Christ in her arms.
On the panel to the left, on the other hand, Christ is seated on a throne, and Empress Zoe and her third husband Constantine Monomachos are on both sides. In this mosaic, where the empress had been depicted with his first husband Romanos III in the llth century the first time, it is recognizable that the name and the head of the emperor in the scene was changed after each marriage of the empress.
At the furthest point of the gallery, when you look at the upper part of the apse, you can see the mosaic, where Virgin Mary and baby Christ are pictured with the archangels Michael and Gabriel (9th century). (s4)

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