Architectural Designs

details about the hagia sophia church/mosque?

a. Who designed it? b. How long did it take to build? c. What are its dimensions? d. How much did it cost to build? e. What construction materials were used? Please reply with at least one answer.

Public Comments

1. architects: isidore of miletus and anthemeus of tralles. the dome is 56 meters high; its diameter is 31 meters. it is centrally planned architecture; the common feature is dome on pedantives (four concave trangular shapes used to distribute the weight of the dome to the piers). i think there are 42 windows surrounding the base of the dome. it is constructed of brick and mortar; stucco on the exterior; jewels and glass on the interior walls. the four minarets are not part of the original design. they were constructed after the collapse of byzantium in 1453; the church then became a mosque.
2. To add to the above, Hagia Sophia was rebuilt by the emperor Justinian I in the year 537 AD and built in only six years. "Socrates (380-440), the official chronicler of church history, credited the construction of the original Hagia Sophia in 360 to Emperor Constantine I (324-337). Apparently, Constantine I, known as "the Great," first made Christianity his state religion, then began building huge Christian churches throughout Byzantium. One of those was Hagia Sophia whose name means "divine wisdom." Nearly 200 years later, fires and riots destroyed that original edifice. The Hagia Sophia that now serves the world as a famous museum in Istanbul was rebuilt under Emperor Justinian (532-537) by his imperial architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus." This is a short but interesting site: http://www.monolithic.com/thedome/hagiasophia/index.html I visited it years ago and was truly awed.
3. e. gold and silver were donated by Justinian That's just blatant, putting up exact homework assignment questions on the internet.