The dome of the "Hagia Sophia" cathedral in Constantinople collapses. Emperor Justinian I orders reconstruction.
Behind the construction of the church are two architects - Isidore of Miletus and Anthimius of Thrall. Until the construction of the cathedral in Seville in 1520, "Hagia Sophia" in Constantinople was the largest cathedral in the world.
"Hagia Sophia" was built in an extremely short time - less than six years. This is a huge achievement for its time, considering the scale of the project. For comparison, it should be noted that, for example, for the construction of "Notre Dame" in Paris it took almost a century, although the Paris Cathedral was built much later. The construction of the colossal cathedral for its time, however, did not go smoothly.
As Procopius, one of the famous chroniclers of the era, writes, the builders faced the difficult task of strengthening the huge dome of the building, which almost completely collapsed shortly before the cathedral was completed. To solve the problem, the architects designed a special system of bridge supports that would evenly distribute the colossal weight of the structure.
Unfortunately, this roof also did not hold up and collapsed again after about two centuries. After major renovations, the new dome has survived for more than 1400 years, right up to the present day.
At the time of the cathedral's inauguration, the decorations inside were quite simple (mostly depictions of crosses), and over time, complex and highly detailed mosaics, portraits of the imperial family and Jesus Christ were added. For a short period of time (the end of the 8th century to the beginning of the 9th century), the placement of decorations other than crosses was prohibited by imperial decree for fear that worshippers would be distracted from their prayers by looking at the frescoes. After the mid-9th century, the decoration of the interior was resumed, with each subsequent emperor adding his own image. One of the most famous mosaics is located in the apse of the church, 30 m. height, and represents a 4-meter figure of the Mother of God holding the baby Jesus in her arms.
It is said that after the completion of the Hagia Sophia, Emperor Justinian exclaimed “Solomon, I have surpassed you”, referring to the temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem.
After Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmed II in 1453, this put an end to the existence of the Byzantine Empire. However, the sultan was so impressed by the impressive structure that he decided to turn it into a mosque, which it remained until 1931. Four 60-meter-high minarets were added, which are some of the tallest ever built. The changes to the interior were also significant. The builders covered all the mosaics with yellow paint, leaving only the image of the Mother of God in the apse. Also, on the supporting columns under the apse were added the monograms of the four caliphs of the Ottoman Empire. In 1934, the Turkish government nationalized the church property and turned it into a museum.