Sheriff of Hagia Sophia Kebir Mosque
Hagia Sophia Mosque is among the most important monuments of world architectural history that have survived until today.
Structure; It holds an important place in the art world with its architecture, magnificence, size and functionality.This magnificent work is the largest church built by the Eastern Roman Empire in Istanbul and was built three times in the same place. When it was first built, it was called Megale Ekklesia (Great Church), and from the 5th century until the conquest of Istanbul, it was called Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). Megale Ekklesia, built by Emperor Konstantios in 360, and Emperor II. The church, which was rebuilt by Theodosis in 415, was destroyed in public uprisings.
Today's Hagia Sophia Mosque was built by Emperor Justinianos by two important architects of the period, Anthemios of Tralles (Aydın) and Isidoros of Miletos (Balat).From the records, it is understood that a hundred architects working together with two chief architects and a hundred workers under each architect completed the construction of the building in a short period of 5 years and 10 months.The building, which was open for worship as a church for 916 years, was converted into a mosque after Fatih Sultan Mehmed conquered Istanbul in 1453.
Immediately after the conquest, the building was strengthened and preserved in the best possible way and continued its existence as a mosque with additions from the Ottoman Period.In the 16th and 17th centuries, mihrabs, pulpit, muezzin's gatherings, sermon pulpits and maksures were added to the mosque.Hagia Sophia Mosque, with its minarets, madrasah, primary school, muvakkithane, fountain, water fountains, sundials, board of trustees room, which were built outside the building in different periods, was transformed into a complex structure during the Ottoman Period.Hagia Sophia Mosque was converted into a museum in 1934 and served as a museum until 2020. In 2020, it gained mosque status again.Dome of Hagia Sophia MosqueThe most important feature of the Hagia Sophia Mosque's architecture is that its dome is larger than usual and dominates the central space.While the mosque was being built, marble, stone and brick were used by the architects in the construction of the building; Specially produced, light and strong bricks were used to prevent the dome from collapsing easily during earthquakes.Within the scope of the repairs carried out by the Swiss Fossati Brothers between 1847 and 1849 upon the order of Sultan Abdülmecid (1839-1861), Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi, one of the most important calligraphers of the period, inscribed 35 verses of the An-Nur Sura of the Holy Quran on an 11.3 meter diameter area of the main dome. The 'th verse was written.
Mosaics of Hagia Sophia Mosque
It is decorated with many mosaic decorations with and without figures from different periods. The most important examples of mosaic decoration that have survived from the time it was made are the mosaics without figures that can be seen in the nortex area.It is thought that all the figured mosaics in the building were removed during the anti-depiction period. With the end of this period in 843, the first figured mosaic made in the building was the Apse Mosaic.There are figured mosaics made at different dates in many parts of the building, including the gallery floor, Tympanon Wall, narthex, vestibule entrance, and priest's rooms.
Mahmud I LibraryOne of the most important Ottoman additions to the building is the library built by Sultan Mahmud I in 1739. The library consists of the Reading Hall, the Treasury-i Qutb (the room where the books are preserved) and the corridor between these two sections.The Reading Room is separated from the main space of the building by a glass window carried by six columns with diamond-shaped capitals and a bronze grid covering it. The two-winged door that provides entrance to the library is covered with a bronze grid decorated with flowers and curved branches and has two handles with 'Ya Fettah' carvings. The walls of the reading room are decorated with tile inscriptions and inscription friezes. On the wall opposite the door is the porphyry monogram of Sultan Mahmud I, bordered with green tiles.
In the reading section of the library, there are wooden lecterns decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay technique in the form of low, small tables on which books can be read and written, some of which can be opened and closed, and two mother-of-pearl, ivory-coated Quran cases in which the Holy Quran is preserved.
Iznik, Kütahya and Tekfur Palace tiles from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were used together in the library. The 16th century Iznik tiles in the Treasure-i Kutub and the composition of spring blooming branches in the corridor from the same century are the most beautiful examples of Turkish tile art. After the library was completed, Sultan Mahmud I sent the books from Galata Palace to this place; He also had the valuable books in the Imperial Treasury of the Topkapı Palace sealed with his own seal and moved here. Approximately 5 thousand manuscript books in the library were moved to the Suleymaniye Library in 1969.
Source Türkiye Culture Portal History of Istanbul