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Hagia Sophia is
considered to be one among the greatest man-made wonders
in the world. Initially constructed as a church during
the early Byzantine rule, it withstood the ravages of
time to become the largest cathedral in the world for
nearly a thousand years. When the Ottoman Turks captured
Istanbul, the church was converted to a regal mosque. It
was in 1935 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk went ahead and
transformed the Hagia Sophia into a marvelous museum,
which reflected several attributes of both Christianity
and Islam down the ages.
One of the greatest surviving architectural wonders of
the Byzantine period, the spacious interiors of the
Hagia Sophia was decorated artistically with huge marble
pillars, priceless mosaics and other coverings. Under
Justinian's orders eight Corinthian columns were shipped
to Constantinople after being disassembled from Baalbek.
The complex interiors of the Hagia Sophia consists of a
nave covered by a massive dome that is 31.24 meters in
diameter and at a height of 55.6 meters from the ground.
Colorful light enters the nave by means of 40 arched
windows that seem to support the dome.
The interiors of this unrivalled architectural
masterpiece were covered with polychrome marbles that
were green and white, with gold mosaics and purple
porphyry encrusted on the bricks that resulted in giving
the whole area a brighter and colorful aspect,
simultaneously covering the huge pillars. Typical of the
6th century classical Byzantine decorative art, the
marble columns form the most distinguishing part of the
decorative interiors of the impressive building. The
huge bronze doors seen at the exit are supposed to be
from the 2nd century BC which was in all probability
brought to Istanbul from a pagan temple in Tarsus.
During Justinian's reign, abstract marble designs formed
the main object of interior decoration along with
various mosaics. The two archangels Gabriel and Michaes
depicted in marble are still to be seen there. The area
in front of the apse, the altar, the ambo (pulpit) and
the various ceremonial objects were all richly covered
in gold and silver and decorated with ivory and other
precious jewels. The impressive gallery was full of
patterns and figures of flowers and birds in white
marble set against a background of black marble. In
later stages figurative mosaics were also added to the
collection of the Hagia Sophia. An awesome mosaic panel
that pictures Virgin Mary with Christ decorates the
conch of the apse. Various other mosaic panels that
depicted other religious instances were seen in other
parts of the interior of the Hagia Sophia.
Apart from the mosaics, a large number of figurative
decorations like an image of Christ in the central dome;
figures of saints, prophets etc in the typmana below,
and several other figures were added later.
But the Ottoman rule witnessed the Hagia Sophia being
converted to a mosque. Two round jars, carved from a
single block of marble each, and supposed to have been
brought from Pergamum in the 16th century, were
impressively placed on each side of the entrance to the
central nave. A minbar decorated with marble, a dais for
sermons and a loggia for the muezzin were added at later
stages of the Ottoman rule. The transformation from the
medieval church to the splendid mosque resulted in the
Muslim rulers ordering all the mosaics that depicted
various Christian beliefs to be plastered over. In some
places, attractive geometric designs and intricate
wooden carvings typical of Islam architecture were
crafted and embellished with ivory and other precious
stones. The old chandeliers were replaced by new pendant
ones. The walls were decorated by means of gigantic
circular framed disks inscribed with the names of Allah,
Prophet Mohammed, the first four caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar,
Uthman and Ali, and the two grandchildren of Mohammed,
Hassan and Hussain.
It was in 1934 that the Republic of Turkey was formed
and Kemal Ataturk, the first Turkish President, ordered
the conversion of the church turned mosque to a museum,
that has remained open for all. |
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