Hagia Sophia: Church, Mosque, Museum
Hagia Sophia: Church, Mosque, Museum
- Benjamin AndersonBenjamin AndersonDepartment of History and Visual Studies, Cornell University
Summary
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Great Church of the emperors of Rome and the patriarchs of Constantinople, assumed its definitive form in the 6th century ce, the work of the architects Anthemios of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus. A dichotomy between East and West, Rome and Persia, was built into its fabric and determined its rhetorical presentation from the start. This oppositional view coexisted alongside a universalist view of the building, whose geometric perfection evokes an ecumenical divinity. The tension between the two views has informed the use and reception of the building ever since. The oppositional view is evident in its many conversions: from Orthodox cathedral to Catholic (1204) and back again (1261), then from mosque (1453) to museum (1934) and back again (2020). These ideologically charged moments of rupture exist alongside a continuous admiration for the architects’ structural achievement, especially the massive span of the dome, and the solemn beauty of the interior, especially the luminous space under the dome. The goal of pilgrims from Asia and from Europe—Christian, Muslim, and secular—Hagia Sophia remains a key monument both for the global history of architecture and for the concept of world heritage.
Subjects
- Art and Architecture
