"Hagia Sophia Mosque" is one of the most important monuments in the Turkish city of Istanbul, combining Byzantine and Ottoman architecture with Christian and Islamic motifs, and is the first church built with domes in the history of Christianity. During the "conquest of Constantinople" in 1453, the church was converted into a mosque, and after the transition to the republican system in Turkey, the mosque became a museum and remained so for 85 years, until it returned as a mosque in 2020.

The building was repeatedly vandalized and restored 42 times between the sixth and twenty-first centuries.

It was inscribed by UNESCO in 1985 on its list of World Heritage Sites, and is described as the eighth wonder of the world with its distinctive dome with a diameter of 31 meters.

The Bayezid II Mosque is the first Ottoman monument that can be observed in its design, although its dome is much smaller than that of Hagia Sophia, with a diameter of only 18 meters. Another mosque called "Little Hagia Sophia" was also converted into a mosque in the time of the conqueror.

"Hagia Sophia Mosque" is the first domed-built church in the history of Christianity (Shutterstock)

Site

Hagia Sophia Mosque is located in the European section of Istanbul, in the Sultanahmet area, close to Beyazit Market, also known as the Grand Bazaar, the famous Gulhane Park, and the tourist area of Eminonu.

It overlooks the port of the Golden Horn and the entrance to the Bosphorus, and next to it lies the "Topkai Saray" palace, and to the south of it is the Sultanahmet Mosque, known as the "Blue Mosque", and near it is the Suleymaniye Mosque, the Shahzadeh Muhammad Mosque and the historical walls.

The Hagia Sophia building is located on the first hill of the seven hills on which Constantinople was built (Istanbul) and all of them are located within the ancient wall of the city that was called the "Seven Crowns", and each of these hills raises a famous landmark.

Name

At the beginning of its construction, Hagia Sophia was a church called "Megali Iglesia", which means "the big church", due to its large size compared to its contemporary churches in the city, and it was also mentioned that it was called "Sofa" around 400 AD.

Since the fifth century AD it has been called "Hagia Sophia", a Greek name meaning "holy wisdom", "Cathedral of God's wisdom" or "Great Church".

Since the middle of the 14th century, it has been named after the "Hagia Sophia Mosque" after it was converted into a mosque that the Ottomans called "Hagia Sophia, the Great Mosque of Hagia Sophia".

During the time of Sultan Ahmed III, 6 round panels were built on which the name of the majesty, the name of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs (Shutterstock) were written.

Architectural Design

The mosque was built of stone with articulated inlays of bricks and tiles consisting of a mixture of sand and porcelain, and the walls were designed with marble slabs of multiple types and colors, and the ceilings were decorated with mosaic views.

The main building is 269 feet long, and 243 feet wide, and in its center stands a dome with a circumference of about 31 meters, and rises from the ground about 56 meters, surrounded by forty windows, and around it seven small domes, which are half a curved dome, which in turn rests on arches and lower supports, and covered from the inside with a layer of lead to protect it from the elements.

The mosque showed engineering, construction and architectural weaknesses that did not correspond to its geographical location on the peninsula and its orientation towards the east, as the placement of the dome in the Byzantine era directly on the walls put great pressure on the rest of the building.

To overcome this, Sinan Agha, the most famous Ottoman engineer who was a contemporary of four sultans, built six stone supports for the dome on the outside and solid minarets in the west wing to relieve that pressure and strengthen the building.

According to many experts, it was Sinan's restorations in the 16th century that helped to hold the dome so far, and it was said that when he hung the verse of light in it, he said his famous phrase, "The verse of light was hung in the dome, to remain raised as long as the verse remained in its heart until the Day of Resurrection."

As for the mihrab, it is rectangular in shape, and ends with crown-like decorations in its ivory and green color, which corresponds to its back walls, and on both sides of it are supported by marble columns, and the Sanjak of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror was raised above the pulpit.

The doors of the mosque are made of carved brass, and inside it are 170 columns of porphyry and marble, and its large door is located on the west, and does not lead directly to the inner courtyard of the mosque, but through a rectangular courtyard that leads to a spiral staircase that rises gradually. The Ottomans followed this style of construction in most mosques established after the conquest of Istanbul.

Byzantine mosaics on the roof of the Hagia Sophia mosque and dates back to the fourteenth century (Reuters)

Long history and changing architecture

The Hagia Sophia church was built three times during the period of unrest in the Byzantine state:

The first time was during the reign of Emperor Constantinos in 360 AD, and it was then a simple building covered with a wooden roof, and this building was burned during a revolt that broke out in 404 AD.

During the reign of Emperor Theodosius II, it was rebuilt in 415 AD and contained five naves and a huge entrance, and its walls were built of stone and its roof of wood, but it also burned and was destroyed after the "Neva revolts".

The destruction of the two churches gave Emperor Justinian I, known for his architectural leanings, the opportunity to design an alternative church of huge dimensions between 532 AD and 537 AD, which form it survived.

The architects of this third building presented a new perspective different from the previous two buildings, through a fireproof roof, with a towering dome of light brick, based on four pillars, including arches, and surrounded by forty windows interspersed with light, and they excelled in refining and decorating them, and studded their walls with marble, and their ceilings with mosaics and gold.

In an earthquake in 558 AD, part of the dome fell, and it was rebuilt in 563 AD, and raised by about 20 feet.

The most important restoration of Hagia Sophia was in the Byzantine era in the 14th century, as new walls and wings were built around it to consolidate the church and its annexes, which covered an area of 7500,<> square meters.

During the Fourth Crusade in 1204, led by Duke Enricus Dendalo (buried on the second floor of Hagia Sophia), it was briefly converted into a cathedral attached to the Roman Catholic Church.

But it returned to an Eastern Orthodox cathedral when the Byzantine Empire regained its territory in 1261, and remained the official church of the state, and the most important place where its kings were crowned for 900 years.

The Hagia Sophia mosque was restored in 2020 based on an endowment deed in the name of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (Reuters)

"Al-Fateh Mosque"

Constantinople was conquered on May 29, 1453 by the seventh Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror", and the Hagia Sophia was chosen to be the main mosque of the capital, and the sign of the conquest that drew a new history for it.

Al-Fateh held the first Friday prayer inside it on June 1 of the same year, and the sermon was recited by Aq Shams al-Din, the Sheikh of Al-Fateh.

Sultan Al-Fateh is said to have bought the Hagia Sophia church from the Romans with his own money, and made it an endowment for Muslims. It was said that the Ottoman army found it abandoned, and when it did not find a place where its many soldiers could pray, the scholars questioned the possibility of praying there, and issued a fatwa on the permissibility of cleaning the building, equipping it and turning it into a mosque.

Once transformed, new inscriptions were inscribed, the cross was replaced by a crescent moon on the top of the dome, and pillars were built to strengthen the southeastern wall of the mosque. A small wooden minaret was built on top of the western dome, and a wooden prayer pulpit was placed in the courtyard of the building.

Over time, Sultan Al-Fatih built the first alabaster minaret located to the right of the building, and to the north he built a school in the shape of the Latin letter "U" with 46 rooms, and this school was taken out of service, after the construction of the College of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror in the area today called "Fatih".

Since that time, Hagia Sophia has become a mosque, and remained so for 481 years, and has had a great impact on the design of Ottoman mosques.

The symbolism of the mosque according to the Ottoman sultans

Hagia Sophia was the highest mosque in Istanbul, as it enjoyed the largest endowment from the city's customs, its main market and houses built outside its walls, and no building was allowed to approach this mosque from all sides with a distance of less than 35 cubits.

Every Ottoman sultan sought to take care of this ancient building, through additions and modifications, which made it over time the city's Grand Mosque, and one of the architectural elements that formed a multifunctional complex through the ages.

Sultan Bayezid II built the single stone minaret to the left of the building, and added a second floor to the madrasa established by his father, Sultan Al-Fatih.

During the reign of Sultan Selim II, Mimar Sinan - the chief architect of the Ottoman Empire - built the last two minarets, made them among the pillars of the main dome he erected and demolished the wooden minaret, then added an external courtyard, and built the mihrab, pulpit, dukka and balcony covered with a golden cage located to the left of the mihrab, called "Hankar Mahfli", that is, the place where the Sultan prays on Fridays, and it has an entrance from behind the mosque.

Sultan Murad III in Hagia Sophia had many monuments, as he brought the large water jars located to the right and left of the gate from the city of Pergamoun, each of which was made of a single piece of marble formed and then dug in the form of two basins of 1150 liters of water each for ablution.

Inside the mosque, two high terraces were placed, above which the Qur'an was recited throughout the day, and the call to prayer was given above the other. He also placed a crescent moon 50 inches in diameter at the top of the dome, which was seen from a distance.

In the second half of the 16th century, the southern courtyard was turned into a cemetery for the burial of the Ottoman sultans, the oldest of which is the mausoleum of Sultan Selim II, next to his son Murad III, his grandson Mehmed III, and there is also Mustafa I and then his nephew Sultan Ibrahim.

Hagia Sophia was also taken care of by Sultan Murad IV, who created many pillars for the walls, and in his days Quranic verses were written on the inner walls in very large letters in the Zadeh Mustafa Chalabi script, for example, the "letter alif" with a length of ten cubits. It also included the fourth carved marble pulpit, the muezzin's lodge and the preacher's chair.

The lanterns hanging on either side of the mihrab were brought from Bouden by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

Ottoman princes and statesmen used to gather in the mosque for Asr prayers during the month of Ramadan (Shutterstock)

Sultan Ahmed III built a prayer compartment on the northern side of the main mihrab, added a madrasa that later became the museum's library, and then hung in the four corners six round panels with the name of the majesty and the names of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, the work of the calligrapher Teknjizadeh Ibrahim Effendi.

Sultan Mahmud I made the mosque a water path, and a school to the south, which he participated in the opening ceremony. He also made an internal bookcase in the eastern portico of the mosque, added the Sultan's large exposed balcony on the first floor, and erected a fountain and a book for boys in the southern courtyard, and a large dining hall on the north side.

The most important restoration of the Hagia Sophia building in the Ottoman era to avoid the collapse of some of its parts threatened with collapse, was carried out by order of Sultan Abdul Majid I between 1847 and 1849, and was entrusted to the Fossati brothers, two Swiss architects.

In this period, the dome, mihrab and minbar were restored, the three minarets were repaired and the height of the minaret of the Fatih Sultan was increased, mosaics were cleaned and some of their images were obliterated with clay and gypsum, stained glass panels were used to close the windows of the mihrab, and striped red and yellow painted on the outer wall.

Six calligraphic and decorative paintings written by the military judge Mustafa Ezzat Effendi were then placed and replaced the paintings of Teknjizadeh Ibrahim Effendi and hung on the four columns that exist today in the ceiling of the mosque.

The four minarets were raised, and the extensive timing house was built in the forecourt, and on this occasion the Sultan had completed a commemorative medal bearing the image of Hagia Sophia.

Ottoman princes and statesmen used to gather in the mosque for afternoon prayers during the month of Ramadan, and the dome was lit with regular lamps in a circle.

The first sultans often participated in the celebration of the night of the 27th of Ramadan, and Sultan Abdul Hamid II used to come to Hagia Sophia in mid-Ramadan, after the celebration known as the "visit to the honorable purdah" in Saray Topkapi.

The restorations of Sinan Agha, according to many experts, contributed to the resilience of the dome of the mosque (Shutterstock)

Turn it into a museum

After the establishment of the Turkish Republic, the Hagia Sophia Mosque was closed to worshipers for four years, and the Egyptian newspaper Al-Fath published at the time, that a large audience of worshipers came on the first day of Ramadan in 1931 AD to Hagia Sophia to perform prayers in it, and they found on its door a large sign, which read "Closed for repair."

This followed a government decision to stop praying at Hagia Sophia, and to remove his pulpit, carpets, and six Arabic manuscript paintings.

The Hagia Sophia School was also demolished, a school built by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror next to the mosque, and it was the first Ottoman university, and the small minaret built during the reign of Sultan Bayezid II was destroyed, at that time the historian Ibrahim Hakki Konyali published a report in which he stated that these minarets are the support for the dome of the mosque, and if they are destroyed, the Hagia Sophia will also collapse, and then the destruction stops.

The mosque was converted in February 1935 into a tourist museum, and some scholars considered the decision to be intended to make the place merely a "historical memory," i.e., neither a mosque nor a church.

Some accounts suggest that Kemal Ataturk's signature was later forged, to legitimize the decision to turn the Hagia Sophia into a museum.

In her 1923 book An English Woman in Ankara, author Grass Ellison states that during one of their meetings in 1922, the founder of the Turkish Republic revealed to her the possibility of turning Hagia Sophia into a museum or closing it completely if its survival as a mosque would disturb the "Catholic" Christian world.

The victory of the minaret of the mosque

On June 24, 2005, the Association for the Service of Endowments, Historical Monuments and the Environment filed its first case with the Supreme Administrative Court, demanding the annulment of the 1934 cabinet decision to transform Hagia Sophia from a mosque into a museum.

In 2013, a Turkish academic journal published a paper by Turkish historian Yusuf Halagoglu and other researchers, in which they said that the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a museum was carried out in an "illegal" way, by forging Ataturk's signature on the decision on the subject.

In May 2014, an association called Anatolian Youth organized a dawn prayer event in the mosque courtyard, which collected 25 million signatures, as part of a campaign to restore the Hagia Sophia Museum to a mosque as it was.

With demands for the return of Hagia Sophia as a mosque, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan allowed the opening of the back of the building for prayers and the call to prayer from a building in its courtyard.

In June 2016, the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs issued a decision to recite the Qur'an daily in Hagia Sophia during the month of Ramadan, and launched from within it a religious program for Laylat al-Qadr, and the Turkish muezzin, Fatih Kocaeli, raised the call to prayer from the same site from which he raised the last call to prayer before turning it into a museum.

Organizations resorted to the judiciary several times to demand the return of the mosque, until a decision was issued on July 10, 2020, according to which the Turkish Supreme Administrative Court approved the return of Hagia Sophia to its 86-year-old religious function.

This was based on the Waqf deed, which turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque, and was registered in the name of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, and the endowment he founded in 1453.

After lifting the museum's status from Hagia Sophia, Erdogan signed a decision to transfer its affiliation from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to the Presidency of Religious Affairs and turn it into a place of worship, and the first Friday prayer was held on July 24, 2020.