Description of the Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople. The history of the masterpiece of Byzantine architecture

This grandiose architectural structure on the banks of the Bosphorus every year attracts many tourists and pilgrims from many countries and from different continents. They are motivated by the realization that the simple description of the Temple of Saint Sophia in Constantinople from the school history textbook does not give a complete picture of this outstanding monument of culture of the ancient world. It must be seen with your own eyes at least once in your life.

From the history of the ancient world

Even the most detailed description of the Temple of Saint Sophia in Constantinople will not provide the fullness of the idea of this architectural phenomenon. Without a consistent consideration of that series of historical epochs through which he happened to pass, it is unlikely that he will realize the importance of this place. Before he appeared before our eyes in the state in which modern tourists can see him, a lot of water has flowed.

This cathedral was originally built as the highest spiritual symbol of Byzantium, a new Christian power that arose on the ruins of ancient Rome in the fourth century of our era. But the history of the Temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople began even before the dissolution of the Roman Empire to the western and eastern parts. The very city, located on the strategically important boundary between Europe and Asia, needed a bright symbol of spiritual and civilizational grandeur. The Emperor Constantine the Great understood this as no one else. And only in the power of the monarch was to begin the erection of this grand structure, which had no analogues in the ancient world. The date of the foundation of the temple is forever associated with the name and period of the reign of this emperor. Even though the actual authors of the cathedral were other people who lived much later, during the reign of Emperor Justinian. From historical sources, we know the two names of these major architects of their era. These are the Greek architects Anthimius Trallsky and Isidore of Miletus. It is they who own the authorship of both engineering and construction, as well as the artistic part of a single architectural project.

How the temple was built

Description of the Temple of St. Sophia in Constantinople, the study of its architectural features and construction stages inevitably leads to the idea that the original plan for its erection changed significantly under the influence of various political and economic circumstances. There was no such scale of structures in the Roman Empire before.

Historical sources say that the date of the foundation of the cathedral is 324 years from the birth of Christ. But what we see today began to be erected about two centuries after this date. From the constructions of the fourth century, founded by Constantine I the Great, at present only the foundations and individual architectural fragments are preserved. What stood in place of the modern Cathedral of Hagia Sophia, was called the Basilica of Constantine and the Basilica of Theodosius. Before the emperor Justinian in the middle of the sixth century, the task was to erect something new and hitherto unprecedented. The truly amazing fact is that the grandiose construction of the cathedral lasted only five years, from 532 to 537 years. At the same time, more than ten thousand workers, mobilized from all parts of the empire, worked at the construction site. On the shore of the Bosphorus, for this purpose, the best grades of marble from Greece were delivered in the required quantity. Funds for the construction of the Emperor Justinian did not regret, because it was erected not just a symbol of the state greatness of the Eastern Roman Empire, but also the Temple for the glory of the Lord. He had to bring the light of Christian doctrine to the whole world.

From historical sources

The description of the Temple of Saint Sophia in Constantinople can be found in the earliest historical chronicles of the court Byzantine chroniclers. From them it appears that the contemporaries made an indelible impression of the grandeur and grandeur of this structure.

Many believed that it was impossible to build such a cathedral without the direct intervention of divine forces. The main dome of the greatest Christian temple of the ancient world was from afar visible to all sailors in the Sea of Marmara, approaching the Bosphorus Strait. It served as a kind of beacon, and this was also a spiritual and symbolic value. So it was originally conceived: the Byzantine temples were to eclipse with their greatness all that was built before them.

Interior of the Cathedral

The general composition of the temple space is subject to the laws of symmetry. This principle was the most important even in the ancient temple architecture. But in terms of its volume and level of interiors, the Temple of Sophia in Constantinople far exceeds everything that was built before it. It was this task put before the architects and builders of the Emperor Justinian. His will from many cities of the Empire to finish the temple were delivered ready-made columns and other architectural elements, taken from pre-existing ancient buildings. Particular difficulty was represented by the dome completion. The grandiose main dome was supported by an arched colonnade with forty window openings that provided upper illumination of the entire temple space. With special care the altar part of the cathedral was deconstructed, a significant amount of gold, silver and ivory was used for its decoration. According to Byzantine historiographers and the estimates of modern experts, Emperor Justinian only spent several annual budgets of his country on the interior of the cathedral. In his ambitions, he wanted to surpass the Old Testament King Solomon, who erected the Temple in Jerusalem. These words of the emperor were fixed by the court chroniclers. And there is every reason to believe that the Emperor Justinian managed to realize his intention.

Byzantine style

St. Sophia Cathedral, whose photo currently adorns the advertising products of many travel agencies, is a classic embodiment of the imperial Byzantine style in architecture. This style is easily recognizable. With its monumental grandeur, it certainly goes back to the best traditions of imperial Rome and Greek antiquity, but it is simply impossible to confuse this architecture with something else.

Byzantine temples can easily be found at a significant distance from the historical Byzantium. This trend of temple architecture and today are the prevailing architectural stylistics on the whole territory where the Orthodox branch of world Christianity historically dominated. For these structures are characterized by massive domed completion over the central part of the building and arched colonnades beneath them. Architectural features of this style have been developed for centuries and have become an integral part of Russian temple architecture. Today, not everyone can guess that its source is on the shores of the Bosporus Strait.

Unique mosaics

Icons and mosaic murals from the walls of Hagia Sophia have become a universally recognized classics of fine art. In their compositional constructions, the Roman and Greek canons of monumental painting are easily seen.

Frescos of St. Sophia's Cathedral were created over two centuries. Several generations of masters and many icon-painting schools worked on them. The mosaic technique itself has a much more complicated technology than the traditionally tempered painting for raw plaster. All the elements of the mosaic murals were created by the masters according to only one known rule, to which the uninitiated were not allowed. It was slow and very expensive, but the Byzantine emperors did not spare the means for the interior of the Temple of Saint Sophia. Hurry masters was nowhere, because what they created, had to survive for many centuries. The height of the walls and roofing elements of the cathedral created a special difficulty in creating mosaic murals. The viewer was forced to see the figures of the saints in a complex prospective reduction. Byzantine icon painters were the first in the history of the world of fine arts, who had to take into account this factor. Before they had no such experience. And they coped with the set task with dignity, it can be witnessed today by many thousands of tourists and pilgrims, who annually visit the St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul.

In the long period of Ottoman rule Byzantine mosaics on the walls of the temple were covered with a layer of plaster. But after the restoration work carried out in the thirties of the twentieth century, they were presented in a virtually original form. And today, visitors to the Temple of Hagia Sophia can observe Byzantine murals with images of Christ and the Virgin Mary interspersed with calligraphically quoted suras from the Koran.

Restorers also respected the heritage of the Islamic period in the history of the cathedral. It is also interesting to note that some Orthodox saints in mosaic frescoes were given a portrait resemblance to the ruling monarchs and other influential people of their era. In the following centuries, this practice will become common in the construction of cathedral cathedrals in the largest cities of medieval Europe.

Vaults of the Cathedral

St. Sophia Cathedral, whose photo is taken away from the banks of the Bosphorus by tourists, its characteristic silhouette has acquired not least thanks to the grandiose dome completion. The dome itself has a relatively small height with an impressive diameter. This proportion of proportions in the future will enter the architectural canon of the Byzantine style. Its height from the foundation level is 51 meters. It is surpassed in size only in the Renaissance, when the famous St. Peter's Cathedral was erected in Rome.

Two domed hemispheres, located from the west and from the east of the main dome, give special expressiveness to the Cathedral of St. Sophia Cathedral. With their outlines and architectural elements, they repeat it and in general create a single composition of the cathedral's vault. All these architectural discoveries of ancient Byzantium were subsequently used many times in temple architecture, with the construction of cathedrals in the cities of medieval Europe, and then all over the world. In the Russian Empire, the Byzantine dome of the Cathedral of St. Sophia was very vividly reflected in the architectural appearance of the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Kronstadt. Like the famous temple on the shores of the Bosphorus Strait, it should have been visible from the sea to all sailors approaching the capital, thus symbolizing the greatness of the empire.

The End of Byzantium

As you know, any empire reaches its peak, and then moves towards degradation and decline. Did not pass this fate and Byzantium. The Eastern Roman Empire collapsed in the middle of the fifteenth century under the weight of its own internal contradictions and under the growing pressure of external enemies. The last Christian service in the Temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople took place on May 29, 1453. This day was the last for the capital of Byzantium itself. The empire that existed for almost a thousand years was defeated on this day under the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks. Constantinople also ceased to exist. Now it is the city of Istanbul, for several centuries it was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The conquerors of the city broke into the temple at the time of the divine service, brutally punished those who were there, and ruthlessly looted the treasures of the cathedral. But the building of the Ottoman Turks was not going to be destroyed - the Christian church was destined to become a mosque. And this circumstance could not but affect the external appearance of the Byzantine cathedral.

Dome and minarets

During the Ottoman period, the external appearance of the Temple of St. Sophia underwent significant changes. The city of Istanbul was to have a cathedral mosque corresponding to the capital status . The temple building of this purpose in the fifteenth century was not at all ideal. Molebens in the mosque should be made in the direction of Mecca, while the Orthodox temple is oriented altar to the east. The Ottoman Turks reconstructed the temple they had received - they built rough buttresses to the historic building to strengthen the bearing walls and built four large minarets in accordance with the canons of Islam. St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul became known as the Aya-Sofia mosque. In the southeastern part of the interior, a mihrab was built, thus the praying Muslims were to be located at an angle to the axis of the building, leaving the altar part of the temple to the left. In addition, the walls of the cathedral with the icons were plastered. But this is what allowed to restore in the nineteenth century the authentic murals of the walls of the temple. They are well preserved under a layer of medieval plaster. The St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul is also unique in that its external appearance and inner content have intricately interwoven the heritage of two great cultures and two world religions - Orthodox Christianity and Islam.

Museum of Aya-Sophia

In 1935 the building of the mosque Aya-Sophia was removed from the cult category. This required a special decree of the President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. This progressive step allowed to put an end to the claims on the historical building of representatives of different religions and confessions. The Turkish leader was also able to identify his remoteness from various clerical circles.

From the state budget were financed and carried out work on the restoration of the historic building and the area around it. The necessary infrastructure for reception of the big stream of tourists from the different countries is equipped. At present, the Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul is one of the most important cultural and historical sights of Turkey. In 1985 the church was included in the list of the world cultural heritage of UNESCO as one of the most significant material objects in the history of the development of human civilization. To reach this landmark in the city of Istanbul is very simple - it is located in the prestigious area of Sultanahmet and is visible from afar.