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Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

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Hagia Sophia: Hagia Sophia
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  • neodue
  • Updated By neodue on April 1, 2008
  • Istanbul Page by neodue
  • Hagia Sophia - Istanbul
    by neodue, 4 more photos
    Turkish: Ayasofya, Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Medieval Seville Cathedral in 1520.

    The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 AD on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site (the previous two had both been destroyed by riots). It was designed by two architects, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The Church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 50 foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the patriarchal church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly 1000 years.

    In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over. The Islamic features - such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside - were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the secular Republic of Turkey.

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

    Although it is sometimes referred to as Saint Sophia (Greek for wisdom), the Greek name in full is Church of the Holy Wisdom of God Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας; τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας - and it was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom of God rather than a specific saint named Sophia

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    Hagia Sophia: Ayasofya, history
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  • bugulma
  • By bugulma on December 26, 2006
  • Istanbul Page by bugulma
  • Ayasofya - Istanbul
    Ayasofya
    by bugulma
    First church was built in 324-337, then it was burned, rebuit in 415, destroyed again and only third attempt was lucky :-). In the middle of V century the cathedral was built and we see it nowadays. It is 55 meters high and cupola's width is 31 meters. In 1453 the cathedral was changed to the mosque after capture the city by Ottomans.

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    Hagia Sophia: Ayasofya, Orthodox mosaic
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  • bugulma
  • By bugulma on December 26, 2006
  • Istanbul Page by bugulma
  • Mosaic in Ayasofya - Istanbul
    Mosaic in Ayasofya
    by bugulma
    Since 1935 Ayasofya is a museum. Many Orthodox mosaics of Ix-X centuries were cleaned from plasters. Now you can enjoy it for TYL 10 (EUR 5). In the same time inside there are Muslim symbols and it is one of the place where you can see signs of the different religions. Some views of Interior are in the travelogue.

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    Hagia Sophia: Ayasofya
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  • bugulma
  • By bugulma on December 26, 2006
  • Istanbul Page by bugulma
  • Ayasofya - Istanbul
    Ayasofya
    by bugulma
    Ayasofya is one of the wonderful architecture I've ever seen. During its history it was both Orthodox Church and Mosque. Originally name was Church of the Holy Wisdom of God. Now it is known as Ayasofya in Turkish and St Sophia in English. Although sofia word means Wisdom in Greek.

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    Hagia Sophia: Hagia Sophia
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  • SirRichard
  • Updated By SirRichard on December 15, 2002
  • Istanbul Page by SirRichard
  • Inside Hagia Sophia (watercolor) - Istanbul
    Inside Hagia Sophia
    (watercolor)
    by SirRichard
    A real MUST in Istambul. Closed on mondays. Opens 9.30-16.30.
    Amazing in the outside, is even more amazing inside. Its huge cupola is almost 'floating', only sustained by a few columns. Built with materials from Ephesus and Athens, the bricks are made with material from Rodhes and are 12 times lighter than normal ones!! Built as an orthodox church, Mehmet I turned it into a mosque after conquering the city (1459). Ataturk made a museum of it.

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    Hagia Sophia: visit the Hagia Sophia Mosque,...
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  • JaumeBCN
  • Updated By JaumeBCN on September 12, 2002
  • Istanbul Page by JaumeBCN
  • Hagia Sophia - Istanbul
    by JaumeBCN
    visit the Hagia Sophia Mosque, considered as the eight World wonder. The actual basilica was built in the year 537 as the past churches located in the same place were destroyed or burned. It was in that time the biggest Christian church. Even though the dome fell in the year 558 a new one was built afterwards. The basilica was converted into a mosque in 1453 when the Turkish conquered the city. At that time the minarets were added. It has been restored in the past years and as a exemple you have to admire the Byzantine mosaics discovered in 1930. The central nave is a huge magnificent room where you can see the fantastic dome.

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    Hagia Sophia: Hagia Sofia
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  • Bregman
  • Updated By Bregman on March 28, 2005
  • Istanbul Page by Bregman
  • Hagia Sofia - Istanbul
    Hagia Sofia
    by Bregman
    Visit the Hagia Sofia (devine wisdom) church. This church (turned into a mosque by the Muslims) served as a major influence for the Blue Mosque, standing right across the street, and for a lot of other mosques built all over the Turkish empire.

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    Hagia Sophia: Santa Sophia!
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  • kedi+
  • By kedi+ on February 3, 2003
  • Istanbul Page by kedi+
  • Hagia Sophia - Istanbul
    by kedi+
    Santa Sophia is a new candidate of the new seven wonders of the world... I think it deserves to be one of the best.. What do you think?

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    Hagia Sophia: AYASOFYA:Mimarisi, ihtişamı,...
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  • tolgaturan
  • By tolgaturan on September 12, 2002
  • Istanbul Page by tolgaturan
  • Hagia Sophia - Istanbul
    by tolgaturan
    AYASOFYA:Mimarisi, ihtişamı, büyüklüğü ve işlevselliği yönünden ilk ve son ünik uygulama olarak görülen Ayasofya; Osmanlı camilerine fikir bazında da olsa esin kaynağı olmuş, doğu-batı sentezinin bir ürünüdür. Bu eser dünya mimarlık tarihinin günümüze kadar ayakta kalmış en önemli anıtları arasında yer almaktadır. Bu nedenle, Ayasofya, tarihi geçmişinin yanı sıra, mimarisi, mozaikleri ve Türk çağı yapıları ile yüzyıllar boyunca tüm insanlığın ilgisini çekmiştir.

    Ayasofya 916 yıl kilise, 481 yıl cami olmuş, 1935'ten bu yana müze olarak tarihi işlevini sürdürmektedir.

    Bizans tarihçileri (Theophanes, Nikephoros, Gramerci Leon) ilk Ayasofya'nın İmparator I. Konstantinos (324-337) zamanında yapıldığını ileri sürmüşlerdir. Bazilika planlı, ahşap çatılı bu yapı, bir ayaklanma sonunda yanmıştır. Bu yapıdan hiçbir kalıntı günümüze gelmemiştir.

    İmparator II. Theodosius, Ayasofya'yı ikinci defa yaptırmış ve 415'te ibadete açmıştır. Yine bazilika planlı bu yapı 532'de Nika ihtilali sırasında yanmıştır. 1936 yılında yapılan kazılarda bununla ilgili bazı kalıntılar ortaya çıkmıştır. Bunlar mabede girişi gösteren basamaklar, sütunlar, başlıklar, çeşitli mimari parçalardır.

    İmparator Iustinianus (527-565) ilk iki Ayasofya'dan daha büyük bir kilise yaptırmak istemiş, çağın ünlü mimarlarından Miletos'lu İsidoros ve Tralles'i Anthemios'a günümüze ulaşan Ayasofya'yı yaptırmıştır. Anadolu'nun antik şehir kalıntılarından sütunlar, başlıklar, mermerler ve renkli taşlar Ayasofya'da kullanılmak üzere İstanbul'a getirilmiştir.

    Ayasofya'nın yapımına 23 Aralık 532'de başlanmış, 27 Aralık 537'de tamamlanmıştır. Mimari yönden incelendiğinde büyük bir orta mekân, iki yan mekân (nef), absis, iç ve dış nartekslerden meydana gelmiştir. İç mekân, 100 x 70 m. ölçüsünde olup, üzeri dört büyük ayağın taşıdığı 55 m. yüksekliğinde, 30.31 m. çapında kubbe ile örtülmüştür.

    Ayasofya'nın mimarisinin yanı sıra mozaikleri de büyük önem taşımaktadır. En eski mozaikler iç narteks ve yan neflerde altın yaldızlı geometrik ve bitkisel motifli olan mozaiklerdir. Figürlü mozaikler IX.-XII. yüzyıllarda yapılmıştır. Bunlar İmparator kapısı üzerinde, absiste, çıkış kapısı üzerinde ve üst kat galeride görülmektedir.

    Ayasofya İstanbul'un fethi ile birlikte başlayan Türk döneminde çeşitli onarımlar görmüştür. Mihrap çevresi, Türk çini sanatı ve Türk yazı sanatının en güzel örneklerini içerir. Bunlardan kubbedeki ünlü Türk Hattatı Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi'nin Kuran'dan alınma bir suresi ile 7.50 m. çapındaki yuvarlak levhalar en ilgi çekici olanıdır. Bu levhalarda, Allah, Muhammed, Ömer, Osman, Ali, Hasan, Ebu Bekir, Hüseyin'in isimleri yazılıdır. Mihrabın yan duvarlarında ise Osmanlı padişahlarının yazıp buraya hediye ettiği levhalar vardır.

    Sultan II. Selim, Sultan III. Mehmet, Sultan III. Murat ve şehzadelerin türbeleri, Sultan I. Mahmut'un şadırvanı, sıbyan mektebi, imareti, kütüphanesi, Sultan Abdülmecid'in hünkar mahfeli, muvakkithanesi, Ayasofya'daki Türk çağı örnekleri olup türbeler, iç donanımı, çinileri ve mimarisiyle klasik Osmanlı türbe geleneğinin en güzel örneklerini oluşturmaktadır.

    Müze pazartesi dışında hergün 09.30-16.30 saatleri arasında gezilebilir.

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    Hagia Sophia: Smell of the dream Dead tired...
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  • evliyasems
  • By evliyasems on August 26, 2002
  • Istanbul Page by evliyasems
  • Hagia Sophia - Istanbul
    by evliyasems
    Smell of the dream
    Dead tired Hodja came home and thought:
    ~ Suppose that I have delighted soup here, now... And say that I add a little bit red peppery fresh butter to the surface of the soup... And say that I eat spoonfuls out of the soup dish...
    While Hodja was thinking the soup, the door was knocked. Hodja opened the door and a neighbour son appeared with an empty bowl.
    - What is that, Child? asked Hodja
    - Please Hodja, my mother is very ill. Could you give us some soup?
    Hodja was confused and terrified. When he send the boy back he thought again:
    ~ Neigbours!, They are smelling even your dreams.

    AYASOFIA MOSQUE

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