sadeghmiri 1 Posted October 18, 2010 Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Aya Sofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was the cathedral of the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1934, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.[1] The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity,[2] its dedication feast taking place on December 25, the anniversary of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ.[2] Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after Saint Sophia), sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom - the full name in Greek being Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, "Church of the Holy Wisdom of God".[3][4] Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have "changed the history of architecture."[5] It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.[6] The church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 49 foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years. It is the church in which Cardinal Humbert in 1054 excommunicated Michael I Cerularius - which is commonly considered the start of the Great Schism. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, who subsiquently ordered the building converted into a mosque.[7] The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed and many of the mosaics were plastered over. Islamic features — such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets — were added while in the possession of the Ottomans. It remained a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey. For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Hagia Sophia served as a model for many other Ottoman mosques, such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque of Istanbul), the Şehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque and the Kılıç Ali Paşa Mosque. Thanks for comments. Link to comment
arnav 7 Posted October 20, 2010 Love the image. Awesome light. I also see some ghosting of the people walking around which to me adds dynamics to a static shot. Also the TS lens gives that WoW factor. The people add the sense of scale to the picture.Many years ago I went to Istanbul by accident. Our plain had to do an emergency landing and we were stuck for 2 days. I got a transit visa and looked around the city. It was beautiful. I did not own a camera those days. CheersArnav Link to comment
stanley_rogouski 0 Posted October 20, 2010 It's hard to believe they could build something like this 15 centuries ago.I like the way your photo brings out the staggering complexity of this building, especially the number of arches and arched windows. Link to comment
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