What architectural style was used in the building of the Hagia Sophia?

What architectural style was used in the building of the Hagia Sophia?

Byzantine architecture
Architectural Style of the Hagia Sophia It was built in a grand Christian basilica style and is the most significant surviving example of Byzantine architecture.

Is Hagia Sophia Byzantine architecture?

Built between 532 and 537, Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom, Ayasofya) represents a brilliant moment in Byzantine architecture and art. It was the principal church of the Byzantine Empire in its capital, Constantinople (later Istanbul), and a mosque after the Ottoman Empire conquered the city in 1453.

What are the architectural details in Hagia Sophia?

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.

Is Hagia Sophia a Byzantine art?

A masterpiece of late Byzantine art the church is laid out in the shape of a Greek cross, with an apse, one central dome, and two on the narthex. The Church of the Holy Wisdom, commonly known as Hagia Sophia in English, is a former Greek Orthodox church converted to a mosque, in Istanbul (Constantinople).

What are the characteristics of Byzantine architecture?

Byzantine structures featured soaring spaces and sumptuous decoration: marble columns and inlay, mosaics on the vaults, inlaid-stone pavements, and sometimes gold coffered ceilings.

Why Hagia Sophia is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture?

Hagia Sophia is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture, and for nearly a thousand years it was the world’s largest cathedral. The vast, central basilica has a central large dome supported by two half domes on the eastern and western sides.

Who are the original architects of Hagia Sophia?

The resultant Hagia Sophia was built in the remarkably short time of about six years, being completed in 537 ce. Unusual for the period in which it was built, the names of the building’s architects—Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus—are well known, as is their familiarity with mechanics and mathematics.

What were the primary decorative elements of the 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 a very good example of Byzantine architecture?

The most famous example of Byzantine architecture is the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia held the title of largest church in the world until the Ottoman Empire sieged the Byzantine capital.

Which is considered as the epitome of Byzantine architecture?

why is hagia sophia considered the epitome of byzantine architecture.

What was the purpose of building the Hagia Sophia?

The Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya in Turkish) was originally built as a basilica for the Greek Orthodox Christian Church . However, its function has changed several times in the centuries since. Byzantine…

Was Hagia Sophia built over a pagan temple?

The Hagia Sophia is, in itself, built on a Pagan temple . Which was destroyed (some suggest that it was a Pagan burial ground, but there hasn’t been evidence of the same). The original church on the site of the Hagia Sophia is said to have been built by Constantine I in 325 on the foundations of a pagan temple.

What is the current use of the Hagia Sophia?

On 10 July 2020, the decision of the Council of Ministers to transform the Hagia Sophia into a museum was cancelled by the Council of State, decreeing that Hagia Sophia can be used only as a mosque and not “for any other purpose”.

What is the history of the Hagia Sophia?

Hagia Sophia, Turkish Ayasofya, Latin Sancta Sophia, also called Church of the Holy Wisdom or Church of the Divine Wisdom, cathedral built at Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in the 6th century ce (532–537) under the direction of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I .

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