Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta

Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Aya Sofya) is a former Orthodox
patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul,
Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served
as the cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when
it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin
Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin
Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it
was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.

The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy
Trinity, its dedication feast taking place on December 25, the
anniversary of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ. Although it is
sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after
Saint Sophia), sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek
word for wisdom - the full name in Greek being Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ
Σοφίας, "Church of the Holy Wisdom of God".

Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the
epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have "changed the
history of architecture." It was the largest cathedral in the world
for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in
1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church
between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian
and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the
previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by
the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of
Tralles, a mathematician.

The church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured,
among other things, a 49 foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the
seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point
of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years. It is
the church in which Cardinal Humbert in 1054 excommunicated Michael I
Cerularius - which is commonly considered the start of the Great
Schism.

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under
Sultan Mehmed II, who subsequently ordered the building converted into
a mosque.The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were
removed and many of the mosaics were plastered over. Islamic features
— such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets — were added while in
the possession of the Ottomans. It remained a mosque until 1931 when
it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935
as a museum by the Republic of Turkey.

For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Hagia Sophia
served as a model for many other Ottoman mosques, such as the Sultan
Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque of Istanbul), the Şehzade Mosque, the
Süleymaniye Mosque, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque and the Kılıç Ali Paşa
Mosque.

The Hagia Sophia is the most important surviving work of byzantine
architecture in Byzantium. It was first built in the fourth century
and inaugurated in 360. After a fire in 404 it was replaced by the
second church which burned again in 532.