St. Sophia (Hagia Sophia) of Istanbul
Once a church, then became a Mosque and now it is a Museum. The Hagia Sophia is over 1600 years old and it is still one of the most incredible and significant buildings in the world. It has a 31.24 meters diameter dome with no apparent supports to it. Hagia Sophia, right now is arguably considered to be the 4th biggest cathedral in the world but the reality still holds true that it had been built 1,000 years before any of the first three. Still, it is not possible to classify cathedrals in size because there are many different variables like the size of the diameter of the dome or how tall it stands. For the first 1000 years after it was built, it has continuously been considered as the greatest church in Christendom. The pendentives that hold the dome are triangular shapes that let the circular base of a dome to stand weightless on a square shaped construction . The weight of the dome is supported by these four points of piers and passed to ground. This was tried to be accomplished for a long time by the Romans but it was the Byzantines that managed to build it for the first time at Hagia Sophia. Later, the technique was used at the construction of many other European churches during the 2nd millennium. This was an idea of two geniuses of their time, Anthemios of Tralles, and Isidoros of Miletos. When Byzantine Emperor Justinian stepped into this church for the first time, he proclaimed ”Solomon! I have outdone you!" After Istanbul was conquered by the Turks in 1453, it served as a mosque for another 500 years. The minarets were added to the structure after it was converted into a mosque. By the order of Ataturk, the Turkish government changed the status of this Istanbul landmark into a museum in 1935. Some of the Byzantine mosaics still survive in the museum. Some alterations were made when it was converted to a mosque to facilitate worship facing Mecca of Arabia. Hagia Sophia is a unique architectural monument. It has a total height of 55.6 meters and its dome has a diameter of 31.24 meters. Today, Hagia Sophia is a cultural monument protected by UNESCO.
About the Author
Hakan Silistre - is the author for Hotel Lamartine's travel tips section. Please visit http://www.lamartinehotel.com for more travel tips and city specific information written solely for prospective travelers headed towards Istanbul.
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