Megale Ekklesia A.K.A "Hagia Sophia"

Hagia Sophia, one of the most important monuments of the world's architectural history, survived to the present day; in terms of architecture, size and functionality it is an important place.

Haghia Sophia was the largest church in the Eastern Roman Empire in Istanbul and was built three times in the same place. It was first named Megale Ekklesia (Great Church) and from the 5th century it was defined as Hagia Sophia (Sacred Wisdom). Hagia Sophia has served as the cathedral, the largest church of the capital, crowned by monarchs throughout the Eastern Roman Empire.

The first church was built in 360 by the Emperor Constantios (337-361). The first building with a basilical plan covered with wooden roof was burned and destroyed as a result of the popular uprising in 404 due to the dispute between the Emperor Eudoksia and the Patriarch Ioannes Chrysostomos of the Emperor Arkadios (395-408). (Today the mosaic of your patriot can be seen on the north tymphanon wall of Hagia Sophia.)
Today, there are no relics belonging to the first church, it is thought that the Megale Ekklesia stamped bricks in the museum deposit belong to this structure.

Second Church, Emperor II. It was rebuilt in 415 by Theodosios (408-450). It is known that this structure is a basilical planar with five naves, a wooden roof, and a monumental entrance.

During the great reign of the Emperor Justinianos (527-565) in the 5th year of the Soviet era, a large popular uprising that resulted in the merging of the blues representing the aristocratic segment and the greenery representing the tradesmen and tradespeople against the Empire, It was destroyed in the year.

In the excavations carried out by A. M. Scheinder of the German Archaeological Institute of Istanbul in 1935, The steps of the propylon (monumental entrance gate), column bases and frieze pieces decorated with lamb rugs representing the Twelve Apostles were found. Other architectural pieces belonging to the monumental entrance can also be seen in the western part of the garden.

The present day Hagia Sophia was built by Emperor Justinianos (527-565), two important architects of the time, Miletos (Miletus) Isidoros and Tralles (Aydın) Anthemios. According to the historian Prokopios, the building, which started on 23 February 532, was completed in a short period of 5 years and the church opened a ceremony in the ceremony on 27 December 537. In the sources, after the opening day of Hagia Sophia, Emperor Justinianos said, "Thank God for giving me the opportunity to make such a place of worship," after entering into the temple, refering to the Solomon's Temple says, "Hey Sulaiman I passed you".

Innovation in the architecture of the third Hagia Sophia is to bring together the traditional basilical plan and the central dome plan. There are three nephi, one apsi, two internal and external narthexes. Apsisten is 100 m in length up to external nartekse. width is 69.50 m. The height of the mound is 55.60 m above sea level, its diameter is 31.87 m in north-south direction and 30.86 m in east-west direction.

The Emperor Justinianos ordered Hagia Sophia to be confiscated for use in Hagia Sophia by sending news to all the provinces in order to make it more spectacular and spectacular. The columns and marbles used in this structure; Aspendos, Ephesos, Baalbek, Tarsus were brought from the ancient city of Anatolia and Syria. The white marbles in the building were used in the Marmara Island, the green ones in Euboea Island, the pink marbles in Afyon and the yellow marbles were brought from North Africa and used in Hagia Sophia. In the interior walls of the building; symmetrical shapes were uncovered by dividing the marbles into two blocks in a single block and a decorative richness was created by the use of marble colored marble in the interior. It is also known that the columns brought from the Temple of Ephesus Artemis in the structure were used in the naves, and the eight porphyry columns brought from Egypt were used under half domes. There are a total of 104 columns, 40 of which are in the lower gallery and 64 of which are in the upper gallery.

All surfaces outside the marble covered walls of Hagia Sophia are adorned with beautiful mosaics. Materials made of gold, silver, glass, terracotta and colored stones were used in making the mosaics. Herbal and geometric mosaics in the building are dated to the 6th century, and the depicted mosaics are dated after the iconoclasm (Describing Period 730-842).

Hagia Sophia was the place where the coronation ceremonies of the Emperors were made because of being the Imperial Church in the Eastern Roman period. For this reason, the omphalion, rounded and colored with colored stones, to the right of the main space (naos) in Hagia Sophia, is the department of the Eastern Roman Emperors.

During the IV. Crusade, Istanbul was occupied by the Latins between 1204 and 1261, during which time the city and Hagia Sophia were looted. It is known that Hagia Sophia was in a very ruined state when the Eastern Roman city was taken over again in 1261.

Hagia Sophia was converted into a façade by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (1451-1481) conquering Istanbul in 1453. Immediately after the conquest, the structure was strengthened and best preserved and it continued its presence as a mosque together with the Ottoman Period additions. The structure, which has been damaged by various earthquakes since the date of its foundation, has been built in order to support both Eastern Roman and Ottoman periods. The minarets built by Mimar Sinan also function as a supporting strut at the same time.

A medrese was built in the north of Hagia Sophia in the reign of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. The most extensive repair work was carried out by Fossati during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid (1839-1861). During the reign of Haghia Sophia in the period of Sultan Abdulaziz, the madrasa was demolished between 1869 and 1870 and rebuilt between 1873 and 1874. The ruins of the Medresen, which was destroyed in 1936, were uncovered in 1982 as the last excavations.

In the Ottoman period, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Hagia Sophia added mihrabs, pulpit, muezzin secrets, sermon and maksures.

The bronze lamps on both sides of the mihrab were presented to the mosque by Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566) on the return of the Budin Expedition (1526).

The two marble cubes of the Hellenistic Döneme (4th-3rd centuries BC) located at the right and left corners of the entrance to the main place were brought from Bergama, It was presented to Hagia Sophia by Murad (1574-1595).

During Hagia Sophia, during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid, between 1847 and 1849, the Swiss Fossati Brothers were extensively repaired. During these repairs, the Hünkar Mahfili, which was previously in the niche of the mihrab, was lifted and replaced by the Hünkâr Mahfili, which was surrounded by wooden gilded balustrades, rising on the columns on the left side of the mihrab.

In the same period, the Calligrapher Kadıasker Mustafa Izzet Efendi written by 7.5 m. 8 line signs are placed on the walls of the main space. "Allah, the Prophet. Muhammad, Hz. Abraham, Hz. Omar, Hz. Osman, Hz. Ali, Hz. Hasan and Hz. Hüseyin ", these plates are known as the greatest calligraphy of the Islamic world. The same calligrapher writes the 35th verse of the Surat an-Nur in the center of the dome.

Haghia Sophia Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's order and the decision of the Council of Ministers was turned into a museum and opened to local and foreign visitors as a museum on 1 February 1935. According to the title deed of 1936, Haghia Sophia is found in the name of "Hagia Sophia-i Kebir Mosque Şerifi" composed of Tombs, Akaret, Mukakkithane and Medres in the name of "Fatih Sultan Mehmed Foundation in 57 sections, 57 islands and 7th parcel.

P.S. Hey guys, if you are more interested in this, I'll continue with the sections of the Hagia Sophia that is impressively constructed! Thank you for reading and I'm lookng forward for your feedbacks!