Istanbul Guide

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Aya Sofya A TIMELINE

537 Emperor Justinian, depicted in one of the church’s famous 1 mosaics , presides over the consecration of Byzantium’s new basilica, Hagia Sophia (Church of the Holy Wisdom). 557 The huge 2 dome , damaged during an earthquake, collapses and is rebuilt. 843 The second Byzantine Iconoclastic period ends and figurative 3 mosaics begin to be added to the interior. These include a depiction of the Empress Zoe and her third husband, Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos. 1204 Soldiers of the Fourth Crusade led by the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, conquer and ransack Constantinople. Dandolo’s 4 tomb is eventually erected in the church whose desecration he presided over. 1453 The city falls to the Ottomans; Mehmet II orders that Hagia Sophia be converted to a mosque and renamed Aya Sofya. 1577 Sultan Selim II is buried in a specially designed tomb, which sits alongside the 5 tombs of four other Ottoman Sultans in Aya Sofya’s grounds. 1847–49 Sultan Abdül Mecit I orders that the building be restored and redecorated; the huge 6 Ottoman Medallions in the nave are added. 1935 The mosque is converted into a museum by order of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, president of the new Turkish Republic. 2009 The face of one of the four 7 seraphs is uncovered during major restoration works in the nave. 2012 Restoration of the exterior walls and western upper gallery commences. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ottoman Medallions These huge medallions are inscribed with gilt Arabic letters giving the names of God (Allah), Mohammed and the early caliphs Ali and Abu Bakr.

7

Imperial Loge

Omphalion

Imperial Door

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Seraph Figures The four huge seraphs at the base of the dome were originally mosaics, but two (on the western side) were re-created as frescoes after being damaged during the Latin occupation (1204–61).

TOP TIP

Bring binoculars if you want to properly view the mosaic portraits in the apse and under the dome.