Document 8-4: Hagia Sophia (537)

Constantinople’s Crowning Glory

At the beginning of Justinian’s reign, rioters in the Nika revolt burned Hagia Sophia, the church dedicated to Holy Wisdom. Justinian decided to replace it with an extravagant structure and spared no expense. The crowning achievement was the large dome, designed by Anthemius of Tralles, which Procopius described as seeming to be “suspended from heaven by a fabled golden chain.” When the church was dedicated, Justinian claimed to have outdone Solomon’s construction of the first temple of Jerusalem. The structure awed all visitors to Constantinople for centuries, and when the Ottomans took the city in 1453, they converted it into a mosque and added the minarets that can be seen in this image.

image
Murat Taner/Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images.
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De Agostini Picture Library/Bridgeman Images.

READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Describe the structure of the Hagia Sophia.
  2. Why would Justinian have wanted to build such an impressive church?
  3. What does the Hagia Sophia suggest about the relationship between church and state in the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Justinian?