Ayasofya Müzesi Hakkında İngilizce Bilgi

**Prof. Dr. Sinsi** · 09-01-2012

Ayasofya Müzesi İngilizce Tanıtımı

Ayasofya Müzesi hakkında İngilizce bilgi

Ayasofya ingilizce tanıtımı

ingilizce Ayasofya Müzesi

Ayasofya Müzesi İngilizce Tanıtımı

The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia (Άγια Σοφία) in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish, is a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque in Istanbul

Now a museum, Hagia Sophia is universally acknowledged as one of the great buildings of the world

History

Unfortunately nothing remains of the original Hagia Sophia, which was built on this site in the fourth century by Constantine the Great

Constantine was the first Christian emperor and the founder of the city of Constantinople, which he called “the New Rome

” The Hagia Sophia was one of several great churches he built in important cities throughout his empire

Following the destruction of Constantine’s church, a second was built by his son Constantius and the emperor Theodosius the Great

This second church was burned down during the Nika riots of 532, though fragments of it have been excavated and can be seen today

Hagia Sophia was rebuilt in her present form between 532 and 537 under the personal supervision of Emperor Justinian I

It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings

After completion, Justinian is said to have exclaimed, Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών (“Solomon, I have outdone thee!”)

The architects of the church were Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, who were professors of geometry at the University of Constantinople

Their work was a technical triumph, even though the structure was severely damaged several times by earthquakes

The original dome collapsed after an earthquake in 558 and its replacement fell in 563

Steps were taken to better secure the dome, but there were additional partial collapses in 989 and 1346

Justinian’s basilica was at once the culminating architectural achievement of Late Antiquity and the first masterpiece of Byzantine architecture

Its influence, both architecturally and liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Muslim worlds alike

For over 900 years the Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for church councils and imperial ceremonies

In 1204 the cathedral was ruthlessly attacked, desecrated and plundered by the Crusaders, who also forcibly replaced the Patriarch of Constantinople with a Latin bishop

This event cemented the division of the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches that began with the “Great Schism” of 1054

Many of Hagia Sophia’s riches can be seen today not in Istanbul, but in the treasury of St

Mark’s Basilica in Venice

Despite this setback, Hagia Sophia remained a functioning church until May 29, 1453, when Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror entered triumphantly into the city of Constantinople

He was amazed at the beauty of the Hagia Sophia and immediately converted it into his imperial mosque

Hagia Sophia served as the principal mosque of Istanbul for almost 500 years

It became a model for many of the Ottoman mosques of Istanbul such as the Blue Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, the Shehzade Mosque and the Rustem Pasha Mosque

No major structural changes were made at first; the addition of a mihrab (prayer niche), minbar (pulpit) and a wooden minaret made a mosque out of the church

At some early point, all the faces depicted in the church’s mosaics were covered in plaster due to the Islamic prohibition of figurative imagery

Various additions were made over the centuries by successive sultans

Sultan Mehmed II built a madrasa (religious school) near the mosque and organized a waqf for its expenses

Extensive restorations were conducted by Mimar Sinan during the rule of Selim II, including the original sultan’s loge and another minaret

Mimar Sinan built the mausoleum of Selim II to the southeast of the mosque in 1577 and the mausoleums of Murad III and Mehmed III were built next to it in the 1600s

Mahmud I ordered a restoration of the mosque in 1739 and added an ablution fountain, Koranic school, soup kitchen and library, making the mosque the center of a social complex

The most famous restoration of the Hagia Sophia was completed between 1847-49 by Abdülmecid II, who invited Swiss architects Gaspare and Guiseppe Fossati to renovate the mosque

The brothers consolidated the dome and vaults, straightened columns,and revised the decoration of the exterior and the interior

The discovery of the figural mosaics after the secularization of Hagia Sophia was guided by the descriptions of the Fossati brothers, who had uncovered them a century earlier for cleaning and recording

The Fossatis also added the calligraphic roundels that remain today

They were commissioned to calligrapher Kazasker Izzet Efendi and replaced older panels hanging on the piers

In 1934, under Turkish president Kemal Atatürk, Hagia Sofia was secularized and turned into the Ayasofya Museum

The prayer rugs were removed, revealing the marble beneath, but the mosaics remained largely plastered over and the building was allowed to decay for some time

Some of the calligraphic panels were moved to other mosques, but eight roundels were left and can still be seen today

A 1993 UNESCO mission to Turkey noted falling plaster, dirty marble facings, broken windows, decorative paintings damaged by moisture, and ill-maintained lead roofing

Cleaning, roofing and restoration have since been undertaken; many recent visitors have found their view obstructed by a huge scaffolding stretching up into the dome in the center of the nave

What to See

For a more visual description, see our interactive Hagia Sophia Floor Plan or browse our Hagia Sophia Photo Gallery

Click links in the text for photos

The Hagia Sophia has a classical basilica plan

The main ground plan of the building is a rectangle, 230 feet (70 m) in width and 246 feet (75) m in length

The area is covered by a central dome (photo of outside and inside) with a diameter of 31 meters (102 feet), which is just slightly smaller than that of the Pantheon in Rome

The main dome is carried on pendentives: four concave triangular sections of masonry which solve the problem of setting the circular base of a dome on a rectangular base

Each pendentive is decorated with a seraphim

The weight of the dome passes through the pendentives to four massive piers at the corners, and between them the dome seems to float upon four great arches

At the western and eastern ends, the arched openings are extended by semi-domes

The flat wall on each side of the interior (north and south) is called a tympanum, and each one has 12 large windows in two rows, seven in the lower and five in the upper

Just outside the entrance, stone cannonballs line the gravel path of the outer courtyard

These are the actual cannonballs used by Mehmet the Conqueror in his victorious 1453 battle for the city

All interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marble, green and white with purple porphyry, and gold mosaics

On the exterior, simple stuccoed walls reveal the clarity of massed vaults and domes

The Islamic calligraphic roundels suspended from the main dome since the 19th century remain in place and make for a fascinating religious contrast with the uncovered Christian mosaics

The names painted on the eight wooden medallions are: Allah and Muhammad (flanking the apse); the first four Caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali (at the four corners of the dome); and the two grandsons of Mohammed, Hasan and Husayn (in the nave)

The Byzantine mosaics are being gradually uncovered, but only those on the higher gallery levels, which can be accessed by stairways on the payment of a fee

This means that Muslims do not have to confront much Christian imagery in the main chamber of the building, which was a mosque for nearly 500 years and retains all the equipment of a mosque

When the Hagia Sophia was used as a place of worship, both for Christians and then for Muslims, the focus of the building was the east end, directly across from the entrance

This is because Christian churches are traditionally oriented towards the east, and Muslims always pray facing Mecca, which is east of Istanbul

Thus the bulk of interesting sights are clustered in this area of the Hagia Sophia’s huge nave

At ground level, most of the sights date from the Islamic period

A beautiful marble structure in the apse is the mihrab, a niche found in all mosques that indicates the direction of Mecca

The large freestanding stairway to the right of the mihrab is the minbar, or pulpit from which sermons were given

To the left of the mihrab is the grand sultan’s loge, built by the Fossati brothers who restored the Hagia Sophia in the 1800s

Looking up from this area, one sees a splendid apse mosaic depicting the Virgin and Child

On the right is a partly damaged Archangel Gabriel mosaic

Gabriel used to face an Archangel Michael mosaic on the other side of the apse, but this is now almost entirely gone

The most famous of the Hagia Sophia’s mosaics are on the upper floor, in the galleries

The South Gallery, where the great mosaics are, was used for church councils

When the Hagia Sophia was a mosque, the galleries were the place where women sat during worship services

Today, the galleries provide visitors with a commanding view of the nave from all sides and a closeup view of some of the best Byzantine mosaics to be seen anywhere

The best-known mosaic is called the Deësis Mosaic, and it is the first you come to as you enter the South Gallery through the Marble Door

It depicts a triumphant and kingly Christ (known as “Christ Pantrocrator”), flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist

At the end of the South Gallery are two golden Byzantine mosaics

On the left is Christ with Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus and Empress Zoe; on the right is the Virgin and Child with Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene

The modern exit from the Hagia Sophia is through the Vestibule of the Warriors, so called because it is where the emperor’s bodyguards waited while he worshipped

Up high and behind you as you walk out is a splendid mosaic of the Virgin with Constantine and Justinian

Constantine the Great presents to the Virgin a model of the city of Constantinople (Istanbul), which he founded, and Emperor Justinian presents the church of the Hagia Sophia, which he rebuilt

This mosaic dates probably from the 10th century

There are several interesting things to see outside Hagia Sophia, including three mausoleums of sultans, the church’s baptistery, and the excavated remains of Theodosius’ Hagia Sophia

09-01-2012	#1
Prof. Dr. Sinsi	Ayasofya Müzesi Hakkında İngilizce Bilgi Ayasofya Müzesi İngilizce Tanıtımı Ayasofya Müzesi hakkında İngilizce bilgi Ayasofya ingilizce tanıtımı ingilizce Ayasofya Müzesi Ayasofya Müzesi İngilizce Tanıtımı The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia (Άγια Σοφία) in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish, is a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque in Istanbul Now a museum, Hagia Sophia is universally acknowledged as one of the great buildings of the world History Unfortunately nothing remains of the original Hagia Sophia, which was built on this site in the fourth century by Constantine the Great Constantine was the first Christian emperor and the founder of the city of Constantinople, which he called “the New Rome” The Hagia Sophia was one of several great churches he built in important cities throughout his empire Following the destruction of Constantine’s church, a second was built by his son Constantius and the emperor Theodosius the Great This second church was burned down during the Nika riots of 532, though fragments of it have been excavated and can be seen today Hagia Sophia was rebuilt in her present form between 532 and 537 under the personal supervision of Emperor Justinian I It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings After completion, Justinian is said to have exclaimed, Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών (“Solomon, I have outdone thee!”) The architects of the church were Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, who were professors of geometry at the University of Constantinople Their work was a technical triumph, even though the structure was severely damaged several times by earthquakes The original dome collapsed after an earthquake in 558 and its replacement fell in 563 Steps were taken to better secure the dome, but there were additional partial collapses in 989 and 1346 Justinian’s basilica was at once the culminating architectural achievement of Late Antiquity and the first masterpiece of Byzantine architecture Its influence, both architecturally and liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Muslim worlds alike For over 900 years the Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for church councils and imperial ceremonies In 1204 the cathedral was ruthlessly attacked, desecrated and plundered by the Crusaders, who also forcibly replaced the Patriarch of Constantinople with a Latin bishop This event cemented the division of the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches that began with the “Great Schism” of 1054 Many of Hagia Sophia’s riches can be seen today not in Istanbul, but in the treasury of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice Despite this setback, Hagia Sophia remained a functioning church until May 29, 1453, when Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror entered triumphantly into the city of Constantinople He was amazed at the beauty of the Hagia Sophia and immediately converted it into his imperial mosque Hagia Sophia served as the principal mosque of Istanbul for almost 500 years It became a model for many of the Ottoman mosques of Istanbul such as the Blue Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, the Shehzade Mosque and the Rustem Pasha Mosque No major structural changes were made at first; the addition of a mihrab (prayer niche), minbar (pulpit) and a wooden minaret made a mosque out of the church At some early point, all the faces depicted in the church’s mosaics were covered in plaster due to the Islamic prohibition of figurative imagery Various additions were made over the centuries by successive sultans Sultan Mehmed II built a madrasa (religious school) near the mosque and organized a waqf for its expenses Extensive restorations were conducted by Mimar Sinan during the rule of Selim II, including the original sultan’s loge and another minaret Mimar Sinan built the mausoleum of Selim II to the southeast of the mosque in 1577 and the mausoleums of Murad III and Mehmed III were built next to it in the 1600s Mahmud I ordered a restoration of the mosque in 1739 and added an ablution fountain, Koranic school, soup kitchen and library, making the mosque the center of a social complex The most famous restoration of the Hagia Sophia was completed between 1847-49 by Abdülmecid II, who invited Swiss architects Gaspare and Guiseppe Fossati to renovate the mosque The brothers consolidated the dome and vaults, straightened columns,and revised the decoration of the exterior and the interior The discovery of the figural mosaics after the secularization of Hagia Sophia was guided by the descriptions of the Fossati brothers, who had uncovered them a century earlier for cleaning and recording The Fossatis also added the calligraphic roundels that remain today They were commissioned to calligrapher Kazasker Izzet Efendi and replaced older panels hanging on the piers In 1934, under Turkish president Kemal Atatürk, Hagia Sofia was secularized and turned into the Ayasofya Museum The prayer rugs were removed, revealing the marble beneath, but the mosaics remained largely plastered over and the building was allowed to decay for some time Some of the calligraphic panels were moved to other mosques, but eight roundels were left and can still be seen today A 1993 UNESCO mission to Turkey noted falling plaster, dirty marble facings, broken windows, decorative paintings damaged by moisture, and ill-maintained lead roofing Cleaning, roofing and restoration have since been undertaken; many recent visitors have found their view obstructed by a huge scaffolding stretching up into the dome in the center of the nave What to See For a more visual description, see our interactive Hagia Sophia Floor Plan or browse our Hagia Sophia Photo Gallery Click links in the text for photos The Hagia Sophia has a classical basilica plan The main ground plan of the building is a rectangle, 230 feet (70 m) in width and 246 feet (75) m in length The area is covered by a central dome (photo of outside and inside) with a diameter of 31 meters (102 feet), which is just slightly smaller than that of the Pantheon in Rome The main dome is carried on pendentives: four concave triangular sections of masonry which solve the problem of setting the circular base of a dome on a rectangular base Each pendentive is decorated with a seraphim The weight of the dome passes through the pendentives to four massive piers at the corners, and between them the dome seems to float upon four great arches At the western and eastern ends, the arched openings are extended by semi-domes The flat wall on each side of the interior (north and south) is called a tympanum, and each one has 12 large windows in two rows, seven in the lower and five in the upper Just outside the entrance, stone cannonballs line the gravel path of the outer courtyard These are the actual cannonballs used by Mehmet the Conqueror in his victorious 1453 battle for the city All interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marble, green and white with purple porphyry, and gold mosaics On the exterior, simple stuccoed walls reveal the clarity of massed vaults and domes The Islamic calligraphic roundels suspended from the main dome since the 19th century remain in place and make for a fascinating religious contrast with the uncovered Christian mosaics The names painted on the eight wooden medallions are: Allah and Muhammad (flanking the apse); the first four Caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali (at the four corners of the dome); and the two grandsons of Mohammed, Hasan and Husayn (in the nave) The Byzantine mosaics are being gradually uncovered, but only those on the higher gallery levels, which can be accessed by stairways on the payment of a fee This means that Muslims do not have to confront much Christian imagery in the main chamber of the building, which was a mosque for nearly 500 years and retains all the equipment of a mosque When the Hagia Sophia was used as a place of worship, both for Christians and then for Muslims, the focus of the building was the east end, directly across from the entrance This is because Christian churches are traditionally oriented towards the east, and Muslims always pray facing Mecca, which is east of Istanbul Thus the bulk of interesting sights are clustered in this area of the Hagia Sophia’s huge nave At ground level, most of the sights date from the Islamic period A beautiful marble structure in the apse is the mihrab, a niche found in all mosques that indicates the direction of Mecca The large freestanding stairway to the right of the mihrab is the minbar, or pulpit from which sermons were given To the left of the mihrab is the grand sultan’s loge, built by the Fossati brothers who restored the Hagia Sophia in the 1800s Looking up from this area, one sees a splendid apse mosaic depicting the Virgin and Child On the right is a partly damaged Archangel Gabriel mosaic Gabriel used to face an Archangel Michael mosaic on the other side of the apse, but this is now almost entirely gone The most famous of the Hagia Sophia’s mosaics are on the upper floor, in the galleries The South Gallery, where the great mosaics are, was used for church councils When the Hagia Sophia was a mosque, the galleries were the place where women sat during worship services Today, the galleries provide visitors with a commanding view of the nave from all sides and a closeup view of some of the best Byzantine mosaics to be seen anywhere The best-known mosaic is called the Deësis Mosaic, and it is the first you come to as you enter the South Gallery through the Marble Door It depicts a triumphant and kingly Christ (known as “Christ Pantrocrator”), flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist At the end of the South Gallery are two golden Byzantine mosaics On the left is Christ with Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus and Empress Zoe; on the right is the Virgin and Child with Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene The modern exit from the Hagia Sophia is through the Vestibule of the Warriors, so called because it is where the emperor’s bodyguards waited while he worshipped Up high and behind you as you walk out is a splendid mosaic of the Virgin with Constantine and Justinian Constantine the Great presents to the Virgin a model of the city of Constantinople (Istanbul), which he founded, and Emperor Justinian presents the church of the Hagia Sophia, which he rebuilt This mosaic dates probably from the 10th century There are several interesting things to see outside Hagia Sophia, including three mausoleums of sultans, the church’s baptistery, and the excavated remains of Theodosius’ Hagia Sophia