Hagia Sophia

아야 소피아

Hagia Sophia is a huge domed building in Istanbul, Türkiye. It was finished in AD 537 under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, and its name means "Holy Wisdom". When it opened it was the largest indoor space in the world, and one of the first buildings to use a fully pendentive dome, a bold new way of building.

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At a glance

Country: Türkiye
Location: Istanbul, Türkiye
Built: 537
Height: 55 m
Type: Religious building

Quick answers

Where is Hagia Sophia?

Hagia Sophia is in Istanbul, Türkiye.

When was Hagia Sophia built?

Hagia Sophia was built in 537.

How tall is Hagia Sophia?

Hagia Sophia is about 55 m tall.

A Byzantine masterpiece with a vast floating dome, serving as cathedral, mosque and museum over 1,500 years.

Over its long life it has been a church, a mosque, a museum and, since 2020, a mosque again. It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture, and later builders copied its style, including Ottoman mosques such as the Süleymaniye Mosque a thousand years later. Because it has served so many peoples and faiths, it is seen as one of the most important buildings in world history.

Three churches on one spot

The first church here was called the Great Church because it was large compared with other churches of its time. It was consecrated on 15 February 360 during the reign of Constantius II, and it had a wooden roof.

That church and a second one were destroyed, and Justinian's building is the third church of the same name on the site. The one before it was destroyed in the Nika riots.

Who built the dome?

Justinian had the new church built between 532 and 537. It was designed by two Greek mathematicians and engineers, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.

They used curved triangles called pendentives, which let a round dome sit on a square room. For more than five hundred years it was the largest church in the world, until the abbey church of Cluny was finished in the 12th century.

A building with many lives

For nearly a thousand years it was the main church of Constantinople, except from 1204 to 1261 when Crusaders ran it as a Catholic cathedral. In 1054 an envoy of the pope placed a letter here that is seen as the start of the split between Eastern and Western churches.

After the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453, Mehmed the Conqueror made it a mosque and minarets were added. In 1935 it became a museum, and in 2020 it was made a mosque again.

Fun facts

For more than 500 years it was the largest church in the world, until the abbey church at Cluny was finished in the 12th century.
The name "Hagia Sophia" means "Holy Wisdom" in Greek.
Its style inspired Ottoman mosques such as the Süleymaniye Mosque, built a thousand years later.
It is the third church of the same name built on the same spot.
The Venetian leader Enrico Dandolo was buried in the church after the Crusaders took the city in 1204.