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What architectural feature is found in the dome of the Hagia Sophia?
The Hagia Sophia, whose name means “holy wisdom,” is a domed monument originally built as a cathedral in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in the sixth century A.D. It contains two floors centered on a giant nave that has a great dome ceiling, along with smaller domes, towering above.
What architectural elements did the architects use to create Hagia Sophia?
The Hagia Sophia’s Design It combined the traditional design elements of an Orthodox basilica with a large, domed roof, and a semi-domed altar with two narthex (or “porches”). The dome’s supporting arches were covered with mosaics of six winged angels called hexapterygon.
What is the most significant architectural feature of the Hagia Sophia?
Architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus built it in a span of six years. Hagia Sophia combines a longitudinal basilica and a centralised building in a unique Byzantine way—with a huge 32-metre main dome supported on pendentives (triangular segment of a spherical surface) and two semi-domes.
What was Hagia Sophia architectural importance?
It served as a center of religious, political, and artistic life for the Byzantine world and has provided us with many useful scholarly insights into the period. It was also an important site of Muslim worship after Sultan Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453 and designated the structure a mosque.
What is the square footage of Hagia Sophia?
200,000 square feet
With 200,000 square feet of floor space, Hagia Sophia’s largest dome is 182 feet high (about the height of the U.S. Capitol building), 102 feet in diameter, and rests on an arcade of 40 arched windows.
What is the most famous church in Constantinople?
As the episcopal see of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, it remained the world’s largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520….Hagia Sophia.
| Height | 55 m (180 ft) |
| Beginning date | 360 |
| Completion date | 537 |
| UNESCO World Heritage Site |
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What is the new name of Constantinople?
Istanbul
Constantinople is an ancient city in modern-day Turkey that’s now known as Istanbul.
What made the Hagia Sophia an architectural masterpiece?
It was built as a Cathedral reflecting Christian architectural features but then after the conquest of the Ottoman Emperor Fatih Sultan Mehmed it was turned to a mosque by adding Islamic features like minaret, a chandelier, mihrab and a minbar without destroying the features of the Christian church.
Is the Hagia Sophia a museum?
Originally built as a Christian Orthodox church and serving that purpose for centuries, Hagia Sophia was transformed into a mosque by the Ottomans upon their conquest of Constantinople in 1453. In 1934, it was declared a museum by the secularist Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
How did the architects build the Hagia Sophia?
These works can be seen around the building today. The genius of the architects who built the Hagia Sophia is that they combined the basilica, the traditional church architecture, with the central dome. Hagia Sophia is rectangular in the east-west direction, like a Roman basilica.
How tall is the dome of the Hagia Sophia?
Architecture of the Hagia Sophia. Particular to the Hagia Sophia’s architecture are two important attributes: time and space. As space goes, the Hagia Sophia was unrivaled in its day. The primary dome of the cathedral is an incredible 108 feet in diameter, 180 feet in height, and is upheld by pendentives, or triangular sections,…
How many doors are in the atrium of Hagia Sophia?
The narthex outside at the eastern part of atrium is enclosed, and the inner narthex is entered by 5 doors, and from this inner narthex there are 9 doors to the nave. The accesses to upper galleries are provided by ramps, which are traditional feature of Constantinopolitan church planning.
How many windows did Isidore add to the Hagia Sophia?
Young Isidore also added 40 windows around the new dome. Therefore he obtained perfectly balanced, less heavy, and solid dome after all. The proof of his accomplishment is the Hagia Sophia of today itself.