Haghia Sophia
Ayasofya Meydani, Istanbul 34122 - turkey
Phone: +90 (0)212 522 1750
|
Share |
Map |
|
|
|
A masterpiece of Byzantine architecture, Haghia Sophia is the "church of holy wisdom". It was the largest church in Christendom when it was built in the 6th Century. It has undergone many changes. When Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, it became a mosque. It remained so until the 1930s, when Ataturk turned it into a museum. Earthquakes have meant that the building’s huge dome has been shored up several times by increasingly large buttresses. Haghia Sophia’s vast nave is capped by the dome, which reaches a height of 56 metres. A series of beautiful gold mosaics decorates the ground floor and the large galleries.
|
|
|
|
|
