Hagia Sophia summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Hagia Sophia.

Hagia Sophia, (Greek: “Holy Wisdom”) Byzantine structure in Istanbul considered one of the world’s greatest buildings. Built as a church, it became a mosque, then a museum, and now a mosque again. It is a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. Designed under Justinian I by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, the original building was completed in less than six years (532–537 ce). It combined a longitudinal basilica and a centralized building in a wholly original manner, with a huge main dome (rebuilt 563) supported on pendentives and semidomes on either side. In plan it is almost square. There are three aisles separated by columns with galleries above and great marble piers rising up to support the dome. The walls above the galleries, as well as the base of the dome, are pierced by windows, whose light obscures the supports, giving the impression that the canopy floats on air. Art historians consider the building’s beautiful mosaics to be the main source of knowledge about the state of mosaic art about the end of the Iconoclastic Controversy in the 8th and 9th centuries.

Byzantine art Summary

Byzantine art, architecture, paintings, and other visual arts produced in the Middle Ages in the Byzantine Empire (centred at Constantinople) and in various areas that came under its influence. The pictorial and architectural styles that characterized Byzantine art, first codified in the 6th

Istanbul Summary

Istanbul, largest city and principal seaport of Turkey. It was the capital of both the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The old walled city of Istanbul stands on a triangular peninsula between Europe and Asia. Sometimes as a bridge, sometimes as a barrier, Istanbul for more than 2,500 years

Turkey Summary

Turkey, country that occupies a unique geographic position, lying partly in Asia and partly in Europe. Throughout its history it has acted as both a barrier and a bridge between the two continents. Turkey is situated at the crossroads of the Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, and eastern

architecture Summary

Architecture, the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. The practice of architecture is employed to fulfill both practical and expressive requirements, and thus it serves both utilitarian and aesthetic ends. Although these two