Title: Nave of the Hagia Sofia (Aya Sofya)

View Description: view of Hagia Sofia from the southeast

Creator: Anthemius of Tralles; Isidorus of Miletus architect; architect

Subject:

  • Minarets
  • Domes
  • Arches
  • Columns (Architectural elements)
  • Cathedrals
  • Mosques
  • Narthexes
  • Museums

Culture: Roman; Byzantine; Islamic

Period: Byzantine; Ottoman

Century: 6 CE

Dates: 532 -537 CE

Work Dates: 532 -537 CE

Country: Turkey

Current Site: Istanbul, TUR

Repository Site: Istanbul, Hagia Sofia

Original Site: Constantinople, TUR

Notes:

  • [Creation Notes] Commissioned by Justinian I
  • [Provenance Notes] Originally commissioned as the Cathedral of Byzantine Constantinople. When Mehmet II (the Conqueror) conquerored Constantinople it was converted into a mosque in May 1453. In 1934 it was made into a museum. Hagia Sofia means ‘divine wisdom.
  • [Description Notes] It ground plan is 70 meters in width by 75 meters in length. It contains four minarets, a dome, flying buttresses, arches, columns, half domes, narthex, baptistery, skeuophylaxion, atrium, galleries.

Category: Architecture

Work Type: Cathedral