The Must-see Most Striking Churches in the World 2

This is the second article in a two-part piece.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey

Hagia Sophia Church or Holy Wisdom is the mother church of all Eastern Christians of the Byzantine built in the 6th century. It is one of the most outstanding buildings that played an important role during the reign of Byzantine Empire as well as its role as a mosque in Ottoman Empire. It is the second oldest church ever constructed in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. In Greek, “Hagia” means “Divine” while “Sophia” means “Wisdom” and “Divide Wisdom” is one of the attributes of Jesus Christ to which his divine wisdom is devoted for this church. It was first called the Great Church or “Megala Ekklessia” as it was the largest church in Constantinople at that time. Socrates, the historian indicated that this church was then named Sophia during the reign of Emperor Constantius. It was first constructed in 360 during the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantinus, son of Emperor Constantine, who had liberated the Christian faith from centuries of persecution. However, it was burnt in 404 by mobs during the riots, when Emperor Arcadius sent the Patriarch of Constantinople, John Chrysostom, into exile for his open criticism of the Empress. By October, 405, the Emperor Theodosius built a new church in the same place but it was destroyed in the fire. Then, Emperor Justinian I who was a strong believer of Christianity made the third and last church in 537 to enlarge the scope of Christianity. In 1935, Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum and it is opened to the public for a visit. Now, the Hagia Sophia Church is regarded as one of the most elegant, austere and symmetrical architecture of Early Christian in South-eastern Europe, as well as one of the Turkey’s most popular museums.

When Turks conquered Istanbul On Tuesday, May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmet was amazed at the beauty of Hagia Sophia Church and decided to convert the church into his imperial mosque, a place of Islamic worship. During the reign of Ottoman, the original twelfth-century frescoes were destroyed and four minarets were added on the corners of the main edifice in the different periods. The frescoes and mosaic figures of Christian saints on the walls were shaded with plaster as the Islamic code forbids figural representation. The mosque was carpeted and the pulpit (minber) was placed on all the southern part of the church. As it was used as a mosque for nearly 500 years, many Islamic structures such as the fountain (sadirvan), mausoleum (turbe), preacher’s pew (muezzin mahfili), soup-kitchen (imare), a library and a primary school (mekteh-I sibyan) were added during the Turkish era, giving Hagia Sophia a mosque-like appearance. In the 19th century, one of the minarets was destroyed by two earthquakes and later the mosque was abandoned until the restoration work was carried out after 1900. Hagia Sophia was served as a mosque until Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ordered the change of its status to a museum on February 6, 1935. In 1929, the plasters were removed and it was reopened as a museum in 1940s.