Its name in Greek means “Holy Wisdom”. It’s the most visited cultural landmark in Turkey, receiving over three million visitors each year. The Hagia Sophia is, quite simply, the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen. Its dome is over 100 feet in diameter, supported by arched windows that flood the nave with light. Simply put, it’s an architectural triumph for a fifth century construction project. It’s breathtaking to behold even today.
Church
The Hagia Sophia is actually the third building constructed on the same spot in the Fatih District in Istanbul. In the year 532, a riot broke out between Constantinople’s two rival chariot racing factions—the greens and the blues. When the dust had settled and the fires were stomped out, roughly 30,000 people lay dead and the old church lay in ruins. Emperor Justinian set about rebuilding almost immediately. He sourced materials from all over the Byzantine empire, even taking marble columns from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The temple is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. But by the sixth century it had fallen into ruin. Today, only a single column from the temple stands on the original site in Ephesus. However, Hagia Sophia’s columns are preserved beautifully.
Mosque
When Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, the city’s citizens sought refuge in the church. Mehmed the Conqueror allowed his armies three days of unbridled pillaging. Even though much of the church was sacked, its beauty left the conquering Ottomans awestruck. Mehmed converted the building into a mosque and added four minarets, the tallest ever built at the time. Unfortunately during this time the Ottomans also destroyed or plastered over many mosaics depicting Christian icons, including Jesus and Mary. Until Sultan Ahmed constructed the Blue Mosque, two centuries later, Hagia Sophia remained the predominant place of worship in Istanbul.
Museum
The allies occupied Turkey at the end of the First World War and kicked off the nationalist movement that eventually created the Turkish nation. In a bid to secularize the country, Turkey’s first president, Ataturk, opened Hagia Sophia to the world as a museum in 1935. Even the plaster that had covered up Christian mosaics for centuries came down to reveal the images underneath. There’s a wonderful blog post describing some of the restoration work here.
Right: a calligraphic placard, one of many bearing the names of Allah and Muhammed. (Personal photo)
Current Controversy
The reason we’re talking about this now is because President Erdogan reverted the museum back into a mosque on July 10, 2020. Erdogan has spoken of reconverting Hagia Sophia for years, but his decision to go through with the reclassification drew ire and even the threat of sanctions from France, Greece and Cyprus. Criticism largely addresses the concern of religious division, because the building is an important piece of culture to Christians and Muslims alike. Nevertheless, the first Friday prayers in over 85 years were just two weeks later on July 24.
Even though Hagia Sophia is a mosque once more, it retains its UNESCO World Heritage status. The day of the first prayers, President Erdogan even remarked, “It is the cultural heritage of all humanity.”