Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya in Turkish) undoubtedly is the mother church of all Eastern Christians of the Byzantine tradition either the Orthodox or the Greek Catholic. Ancient Historians' records show that in the first millennium, the site of Hagia Sophia had been the site of a pagan temple. The first church on the site of Hagia Sophia was built by the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantius. Hagia Sophia was consecrated in 360 AD. At first Hagia Sophia was known as the Great Church because it was the largest church of its time. Later it became known as the Holy Wisdom, a name attributed by the Christian Theologians.
In 404 AD the Hagia Sophia was destroyed by mobs set into action when Emperor Arcadius sent Archbishop John Chrysostom into exile for his criticisms of the Byzantine Empire. In 415 AD Emperor Theodosius rebuilt Hagia Sophia. The new Hagia Sophia, too, was rampaged by a mob at the time of Monophysite heretics in 531 AD. The new Emperor Justinian, a firm believer of orthodoxy, ordered that construction of Hagia Sophia to begin on a new basilica such as a one never seen before. The construction lasted from 532 to 537 AD and the new Hagia Sophia was consecrated by Patriarch Menas on December 27, 537 AD.
Architecturally Hagia Sophia represented a major revolution in church construction in that Hagia Sophia had a huge dome which necessitated the implementation of new ideas in order to support the weight of this huge dome, a feature which had not been attempted before. In the days when there was no steel to be used in construction, huge roofs and domes had to be supported by massive pillars and walls. The dome of Hagia Sophia was supported by four piers, each pier measuring about 98 square meters at the base. Four arches of Hagia Sophia swing across linked by four pendentives.
Located in Istanbul, Hagia Sophia itself measures 79 x 82 meters; the dome rises 64 meters above the floor and has a diameter of 34 meters. The nave of Hagia Sophia is 41 meters wide, more than twice the width of the aisles which measure 19 meters. Because Istanbul lies in an earthquake-prone region, the massive structure of Hagia Sophia was deemed sufficient to meet the threat. That expectation however was disappointed when in later years earthquakes destroyed parts of Hagia Sophia and the dome, requiring massive repairs including the construction of large buttresses to support the walls which in turn held up the huge dome of Hagia Sophia.
In 1204 AD, Roman Catholic crusaders of the Fourth Crusade (to get Jerusalem back from the muslims) attacked and sacked Istanbul and Hagia Sophia, leaving behind a legacy of bitterness among Eastern Christians which continues even to this day.
For more than 1000 years Hagia Sophia served as the cathedral church of Istanbul as well as the church of the Byzantine court but this came to an end on May 29, 1453, when the Ottoman Turkish Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror (a nick he received after conquering Istanbul and giving an end to the Byzantine Empire) seized the Imperial City and converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Hagia Sophia remained a mosque until 1935 when Mustafa Kemal converted Hagia Sophia into a museum.
In its most popular days as the Imperial Church, Hagia Sophia was served by 85 priests, 160 deacons, 65 subdeacons, 160 readers, 25 cantors and 80 doorkeepers. Hagia Sophia was the model for other Byzantine Churches throughout Eastern Christianity.