History
First church
The first church was known as Μεγάλη Ἐκκλησία —Megálē Ekklēsíā, "Great Church"— or Magna Ecclesia in Latin,[8] because its dimensions were larger than those of the city's contemporary churches.[9] It was inaugurated on February 15, 360—during the reign of Constantius II—by the Arian bishop Eudosius of Antioch,[9] it was built next to the area where the imperial palace was being developed. The nearby church of St. Irene—“Santa Paz”—was completed earlier and served as a cathedral until the church of St. Sophia was completed. Both were jointly the main churches of the Byzantine Empire.
Writing in 440, Socrates of Constantinople claimed that the church was built by Constantius II, who was working on it in 346. A story after the 2nd century states that the building was built by Constantine the Great. Zonaras reconciled the two opinions, stating that Constantius repaired the building consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia after it collapsed. Given that Eusebius was bishop of Constantinople from 339 to 341 and that Constantine's death occurred in 337, it seems possible that the first church was erected by the latter.[9] The building was built as a traditional Latin basilica with columns, galleries and a wooden roof, and was preceded by an atrium. It was claimed to be one of the most prominent monuments in the world at that time.
The Patriarch of Constantinople, John Chrysostom, came into conflict with the Empress Aelia Eudoxia, wife of the Emperor Arcadius, and was sent into exile on June 20, 404. During the riots that occurred after this event, the church was burned and largely demolished,[9] and nothing of this first building remains today.
Second church
Emperor Theodosius II ordered the construction of a second church, which he inaugurated on October 10, 415. This basilica, with a wooden roof, was built by the architect Rufinus. However, during the Niká riots a fire broke out that burned and collapsed this second building, between January 13 and 14, 532.
Some marble blocks from this second church still survive. Among them are some reliefs "Relief (art)") that show twelve lambs, representing the twelve apostles, and which were originally part of a monumental entrance door. Currently these blocks are found in an excavation next to the museum entrance. The pieces were discovered by A. M. Schneider in 1935, under the west patio, but the excavations were later stopped for fear that they would affect the stability of the current building.
Third church (current construction)
On February 23, 532, Emperor Justinian I decided to build a completely different third basilica, larger and more majestic than its predecessors. Justinian chose the physicist Isidore of Miletus and the mathematician Anthemius of Tralles as architects, although Anthemius died during the first year of the undertaking.
The Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea described the construction of the temple in his work On Buildings —Latin: De aedificiis; Greek: Peri ktismatōn—. More than ten thousand people were employed for the construction, and the emperor had material brought from all over the empire, such as the Hellenistic columns of the Temple of Artemis "Temple of Artemis (Ephesus)") in Ephesus, large stones from the porphyry quarries of Egypt, green marble from Thessaly, black stone from the Bosporus region, and yellow stone from Syria. This new church was recognized by contemporaries as a great work of architecture. The emperor, together with Patriarch Eutychius, inaugurated the new basilica with great pomp on December 27, 537. The mosaics inside the church were completed under the reign of Emperor Justin II (565-578). Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and the main setting for Byzantine imperial ceremonies, such as coronations. The basilica also offered refuge to evildoers.
The earthquakes of August 553 and December 14, 557 caused cracks in the main dome and the eastern half-dome. The main dome completely collapsed during a subsequent earthquake on May 7, 558,[10] which also destroyed the ambo, the altar, and the ciborium. The accident was mainly due to the excess load of the dome and the enormous horizontal thrust that it transmitted to the supports, due to its too flat design. This caused the deformation of the pillars that supported the dome. The emperor ordered the immediate restoration, which was entrusted to Isidore the Younger, nephew of Isidore of Miletus, who used lighter materials and raised the dome,[11] giving the construction its current interior height of 55.6 meters.[12] On the other hand, Isidore also changed the type of vault, erecting a ribbed dome with pendentives, whose diameter was between 32.7 and 33.5 meters.[11] This reconstruction, which gave the church its current characteristic form of the 19th century, was completed in the year 562. The Byzantine poet Paul Silentiario composed an epic poem, known as Ekphrasis, for the dedication of the basilica presided over by Patriarch Eutychius on December 23, 562.
In 726, Emperor Leo the Isaurian "Leo III (emperor)") issued a series of edicts against the veneration of images and ordered the army to destroy all icons—inaugurating the period of Byzantine iconoclasm. At that time, all religious images and statues were removed from the Hagia Sophia. After a brief respite during the rule of Empress Irene (797-802), the Iconoclasts reappeared. Emperor Theophilus "Theophilus (emperor)") (829-842), strongly influenced by Islamic art, banned religious images and installed a double-leaf bronze door with his monogram at the south entrance of the church.
The basilica would suffer damage again: first by a great fire in 859, and again by an earthquake, on January 8, 869, which collapsed half of the dome. Emperor Basil I ordered repairs. A century later, on October 25, 989, a new great earthquake ruined the dome, and it was Emperor Basil II who commissioned its repair to the Armenian architect Trdat"), creator of the great churches of Ani and Argina. His main repairs affected the western arch and a part of the dome. The magnitude of the damage required six years of repair and reconstruction, until the church was reopened on May 13, 994.
In his book De Caerimoniis Aulae Byzantinae, Emperor Constantine VII (913 to 919) wrote a detailed account of the ceremonies performed by the Emperor and Patriarch in the Church of Hagia Sophia.
After the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, the church was looted and desecrated by Latin Christians. The event was described by the Byzantine historian Nicetas Coniata. Many church relics—such as a stone from Jesus' tomb, the milk of the Virgin Mary "Mary (mother of Jesus)"), the shroud of Jesus, and the bones of several saints—were sent to churches in the West, and are currently housed in several museums. During the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204-1261) the church became a Catholic cathedral. There, Baldwin I of Constantinople was crowned Emperor, in a ceremony that closely followed Byzantine practices, on May 16, 1204.
Mosque
In 1453 Sultan Mehmed laid siege to Constantinople, driven in part by a desire to convert the city to Islam.[14] The sultan promised his soldiers three days of unlimited plunder before claiming the city's contents for himself.[15][16]
The church of Hagia Sophia was not exempt from looting, being the focal point of the invaders, who thought it would contain the most important treasures of the city.[17]
Shortly after the city's defenses collapsed, the looters headed to the church, knocking down its doors.[18] Throughout the siege, the holy liturgy and the liturgy of the hours were celebrated in the church, with the temple being a refuge for many citizens unable to contribute to the defense of the city.[19][20] Trapped in the church, parishioners and refugees became part of the loot to be distributed among the invaders. The building was desecrated and looted, and its occupants enslaved or murdered;[17] the elderly and sick were murdered, and the rest were chained.[18] The priests continued to celebrate Christian rites until they were stopped by the invaders.[18] When the sultan entered the church with his cohort, he insisted that it be transformed into a mosque, after which one of the ulama ascended the pulpit and began to recite the shahada.[21][22].
Immediately after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Mehmet II converted Hagia Sophia into the Ayasofya Mosque.[22][23][24] As described by several Western visitors (such as the Cordoban nobleman "Córdoba (Spain)") Pero Tafur[25] and the Florentine Cristoforo Buondelmonti),[26] the church was in a dilapidated state, with several of its doors outside, Sultan Mehmed II ordered the cleaning of the church and its conversion. He attended the first Friday prayer at the mosque on June 1, 1453. Hagia Sophia became the first imperial mosque in Istanbul. They added to the above shops and parts of the Grand Bazaar "Grand Bazaar (Istanbul)") and other markets.[22].
Before 1481 a small minaret was erected in the south-west corner of the building, above the stair tower.[22] Later, the next sultan, Bayezid II (1481-1512), built another minaret in the north-east corner.[22] One of them collapsed due to the earthquake of 1509,[22] and towards the middle of the century they were replaced by two minarets. diametrically opposed built at the corners of the east and west building.[22].
In the century Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) brought two colossal candelabras from the conquest of Hungary, which were placed on both sides of the mihrab.
During the reign of Selim II (1566-1577), the building began to show signs of fatigue and was greatly reinforced with the addition of exterior buttresses, by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, considered one of the first engineers to include anti-seismic reinforcements. In addition to reinforcing the historic Byzantine structure, Sinan built the two additional large minarets at the west end of the building, the original sultan's box, and the Turbe (mausoleum) of Selim II in the southeast of the building in 1576-7/984 H. In order to make it, a year before the parts of the patriarchate in the southern corner of the building were demolished.[22] Furthermore, a gold crescent "Crescent (symbol)") was mounted on the top of the dome,[22] while a respect area of 35 was created. (about 24 meters) wide, around the building, demolishing all the houses that had been built in the surroundings.[22] Later his Turbe also housed 43 tombs of the Ottoman princes.[22] In 1594/1004H, (court architect) Davud Ağa") built the Turbe of Murad III (1574-1595), where the sultan and his favorite, Safiye Sultan") were buried later.[22] The octagonal mausoleum of his son Mehmed III (1595-1603) and his favorite was built next to him in 1608/1017 H by the royal architect Dalgiç Mehmet Aĝa").[29] His son Mustafa I (1617-1618; 1622-1623) converts the baptistery into his Turbe.[29].
Museum
In 1931, during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the mosque was closed to the public, and opened again in 1935, but this time as a museum.
Although from then until 2020 the use of the complex as a place of worship (mosque or church) was strictly prohibited,[31] in 2006 the Turkish government allowed the allocation of a small room in the temple complex to be used as a prayer room for Muslims and Christians. Since 2013, the muezzin has sung the call to prayer twice a day in the afternoon from the minarets of Hagia Sophia.[32].
Since its conversion into a museum, there have been calls to convert Hagia Sophia into both a church and a mosque. In 2007, Greek-American politician Chris Spirou created an international organization called Free Agia Sophia Council that champions the cause of restoring the building to its original function as a Christian church.[33] Meanwhile, on May 13, 2017, a large group of people organized by the Anatolian Youth Association (AGD) gathered in front of Hagia Sophia and prayed morning prayer with a call for the reconversion of the museum in mosque.[34] On June 21, 2017, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) organized a special program, including recitation of the Quran and prayers in Hagia Sofia, to commemorate Laylat al-Qadr, the program was broadcast live on state television TRT.[35].
On July 1, 2016, Muslim prayers were held again in Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years.[36].
On March 31, 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recited the first verse of the Quran in Hagia Sophia, dedicating the prayer to the souls of all those who left us this work as a legacy, especially the conqueror of Istanbul, strengthening the political movement to make Hagia Sophia a mosque again, which would reverse Atatürk's move to dedicate it to a secular museum.[37]
In March 2019, Erdoğan announced that he will change the status of Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque,[38] adding that it was "a big mistake" to turn it into a museum.[39].
On May 29, 2020, the Government of Türkiye celebrated the 567th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul with an Islamic prayer in Hagia Sophia. During the event, passages from the Koran were read. Greece condemned this action, while Türkiye in response accused Greece of making useless and ineffective statements. In June, the head of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) said that we would be very happy to open Hagia Sophia for worship" and if this happens "we will provide our religious services as we do in all our mosques."[40].
Conversion into a mosque (2020)
On July 10, 2020, the State Council approved the Council of Ministers' decision to transform the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.[41] And, despite secular and global criticism, Erdogan signed a decree revoking the Hagia Sophia's museum status for its conversion into a mosque. The call to prayer was broadcast from the minarets shortly after the change was announced and broadcast by major Turkish news networks. The Hagia Sophia Museum's social media channels were taken down the same day, and Erdoğan announced at a press conference that prayers would be held there starting July 24. A presidential spokesperson said it would become a functioning mosque, open to anyone similar to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Paris) and the Notre Dame Cathedral (Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris)) in Paris. The spokesperson also said that the change would not affect Hagia Sophia's status as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and that the Christian icons within it would continue to be protected.[43].
Greece denounced the conversion and considered it a violation of the UNESCO World Heritage title. Patriarch Cyril I of Moscow, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, denounced the conversion of the building into a mosque as a "threat to all Christian civilization." Sophia"*.[45].
On July 10, 2020, Turkey's State Council passed a decision decreeing that Hagia Sophia be used only as a mosque and "for no other purpose".[46].
UNESCO announced that it "deeply regrets" the conversion, "carried out without prior debate", and called on Turkey to "open a dialogue without delay", declaring that the lack of negotiation was "regrettable".[47] Orhan Pamuk, famous Turkish novelist, publicly denounced the measure.[42].
For his part, Pope Francis said he was "very hurt" by the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque.[48].
Turkish sources said that the building's Christian icons and mosaics will be preserved, but will be covered with light technology, curtains and carpets during Islamic prayers.[49].
Ibrahim Kalin, government spokesman for the Erdogan government, said that the mosaics of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus and the Archangel Gabriel that are found in the apse of the temple and which coincidentally face Mecca, would be covered during Muslim prayers. He also specified that the other mosaics of Jesus and other prominent biblical figures would not be covered because they are not located in the direction of Mecca. After the prayers, the site will be opened to the public again and the mosaics would be unveiled.
Finally, on July 24, 2020, the temple opened to the public as a mosque in a Friday prayer ceremony in the presence of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other Muslim leaders from neighboring countries.[50] A large turquoise blue carpet chosen by Erdoğan was placed on the floor of the temple and the Christian mosaics were hidden with curtains during the prayer.[51]