Page 17 - All About History - Issue 59-17

Christian and Islamic fusion Doge Dandolo’s tomb The
04 Both the Byzantines and the Ottomans 06 Hagia Sophia started out as a Greek Orthodox 07 greatest
removed Christian mosaics at different times and replaced church. Then the Fourth Crusade, led by Venetians in temple ever built
them with nonrepresentational art like calligraphy and 1204, sacked Constantinople and turned it into a Catholic Even today, when
geometric shapes. The Islamic calligraphy inside the dome one until the Byzantines returned in 1261. In 1453, the one gazes into the
probably covers an original Byzantine mosaic. A surviving Ottomans turned it into a mosque, which it remained ancient dome, one is
mosaic of a Christ Pantocrator, the so-called Deësis mosaic, until 1934 when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ordered it to left speechless in its
probably dates from the 13th century and is considered be turned into a museum. A reminder of the Venetian awe-inspiring space
one of the finest examples of late Byzantine mosaics. Crusade, Dandolo, the 41st doge of Venice, is buried here. and history spanning
centuries. Fortunately,
the Byzantine emperor
Imperial strength Justinian had the words,
05 Supporting each hemisphere are four 17–meter comparing it favourably
tall porphyry columns. Like the Romans before them, with the biblical First
the Byzantine emperors prized porphyry marble in part Temple in Jerusalem,
because it was rare, but also because it was purple — the saying, “O, Solomon, I
colour of royalty. However, porphyry is known to fracture have outdone thee!”
04 under stress, so the basilica’s columns had to be reinforced
07 over the centuries with bronze collars. The capitals of the Knock on the
columns have Justinian’s monogram carved into them.
08 emperor door
This seven-metre-high doorway
03 — the largest in Hagia Sophia
— was originally reserved for
Justinian and his retinue. Made
from oak and bronze, Byzantine
01 sources claimed the wood was
from Noah’s Ark. A mosaic
above the door was added in
either the 9th or 10th century
and depicts Emperor Leo VI
bowing in respect to Christ.

Lustration urns
09 Two large marble
10 urns flank the entrance to
Hagia Sophia. Hellenistic in
style, they were each carved
05 from single chunks of marble.
These originally would have
contained water that was used
as part of a Roman purification
ritual called lustratio. They
were added to Hagia Sophia by
Sultan Murad III, who brought
them to the monument from
the city of Pergamon.
06
08

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© Adrian Mann

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