Author: Richard Winston
Publisher: New Word City
ISBN: 1640190686
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 115
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Book Description
Hagia Sophia is more than 1,400 years old. It was a Christian Church, then a Muslim mosque, and is now a museum. Here, from National Book Award winner Richard Winston, is the extraordinary story of one of the world's great architectural treasures and its everchanging role in the history of Constantinople.
Author: Robert S. Nelson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226571713
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 316
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Book Description
Hagia Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom, sits majestically atop the plateau that commands the straits separating Europe and Asia. Located near the acropolis of the ancient city of Byzantium, this unparalleled structure has enjoyed an extensive and colorful history, as it has successively been transformed into a cathedral, mosque, monument, and museum. In Hagia Sophia, 1850-1950, Robert S. Nelson explores its many lives. Built from 532 to 537 as the Cathedral of Constantinople, Hagia Sophia was little studied and seldom recognized as a great monument of world art until the nineteenth century, and Nelson examines the causes and consequences of the building's newly elevated status during that time. He chronicles the grand dome's modern history through a vibrant cast of characters—emperors, sultans, critics, poets, archaeologists, architects, philanthropists, and religious congregations—some of whom spent years studying it, others never visiting the building. But as Nelson shows, they all had a hand in the recreation of Hagia Sophia as a modern architectural icon. By many means and for its own purposes, the West has conceptually transformed Hagia Sophia into the international symbol that it is today. While other books have covered the architectural history of the structure, this is the first study to address its status as a modern monument. With his narrative of the building's rebirth, Nelson captures its importance for the diverse communities that shape and find meaning in Hagia Sophia. His book will resonate with cultural, architectural, and art historians as well as with those seeking to acquaint themselves with the modern life of an inspired and inspiring building.
Author: Charles River Charles River Editors
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781501046865
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 56
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Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts of the construction of the Hagia Sophia and its appearance *Includes a bibliography for further reading "So the church has been made a spectacle of great beauty, stupendous to those who see it and altogether incredible to those who hear of it...Its breadth and length have been so fittingly proportioned that it may without impropriety be described as being both very long and extremely broad. And it boasts of an ineffable beauty, for it subtly combines its mass with the harmony of its proportions, having neither any excess nor any deficiency, inasmuch as it is more pompous than ordinary [buildings] and considerably more decorous than those which are huge beyond measure; and it abounds exceedingly in gleaming sunlight. You might say that the [interior] space is not illuminated by the sun from the outside, but that the radiance is generated within, so great an abundance of light bathes this shrine all round." - Procopius The Hagia Sophia, built from 532-537, is inarguably the masterpiece of Byzantine architecture and one of the greatest buildings ever constructed. Upon its completion, the Hagia Sophia remained the largest enclosed space in the world for nearly a thousand years, a reign that only ended after the rebuilding of St. Peter's in Rome. Fittingly, the rebuilding of St. Peter's was partly inspired by the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 1453. The building of Hagia Sophia itself was shocking and transformational. Beginning with Procopius of Caesarea, Justinian's court historian, visitor after visitor noted that the giant dome seems to hover on air, and it's unquestionably true that the arches, vaults, semidomes, and domes add up for an otherworldly, ethereal effect. The surfaces are enriched by colored marble and elaborate mosaics, and when viewing from the aisles and galleries, looking into the nave is dramatic thanks to all the interconnecting layered spaces and repeating, complex curved forms. Interestingly, however, the brick exterior of the building was left unadorned, representing a shell that houses a magnificent interior. The Hagia Sophia examines the history of one of the world's most famous religious sites and analyzes the religion and politics that shaped its fate.
Author: Patrick Balfour Baron Kinross
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture, Byzantine
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
Author: Brian Croke
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100052275X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 126
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Book Description
Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia (‘Holy Wisdom’), or Ayasofya, is one of the world’s most visited buildings. Yet, few visitors have any idea of its long and complex story, or why it has always been a place where history, religion and politics collide. In July 2020, Turkish President Erdoğan set off an explosive controversy by announcing that Hagia Sophia would now be modified into a mosque. This decision provoked fierce criticism from UNESCO because Hagia Sophia was enjoying World Heritage Site benefits. The United States, the European Union, Russia and Greece all chimed in. However, Erdoğan’s action was wildly popular in Turkey, with its 99% Muslim population. Why is Hagia Sophia so important to modern Turkey? Why this provocative decision, and why now? How could all the international critics be ignored? Why does the world care so much about this old building? Why should it continue to care? This book explains President Erdoğan’s controversial decision in terms of Turkey’s national, independent and Islamic politics, and as a response to the mosque massacre in Christchurch in March 2019 when his life was threatened by the gunman. Any consideration of Hagia Sophia’s present and future also requires appreciation of the almost 1,500-year old story of this architectural marvel, from its inception as a church in 537 to its configuration as a mosque in 2020 and beyond. Because all world heritage sites depend on national management, Hagia Sophia will remain Turkey’s responsibility, but the international community is watching to ensure Turkey honours Hagia Sophia’s entire heritage, from the 6th century to the 21st century.
Author: Rowland J. Mainstone
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 9780500279458
Category : Architecture, Byzantine
Languages : en
Pages : 292
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Book Description
Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was the culminating architectural achievement of late antiquity. Author Rowland Mainstone draws on some 30 years' of detailed observations and critical reading to present the first authoritative account of the creation of this great masterpiece of the Byzantine world. Dr. Mainstone's drawings and superb photographs perfectly complement the text and provide a unique record. 304 Illus.
Author: Bissera V. Pentcheva
Publisher: Penn State University Press
ISBN: 9780271077260
Category : Byzantine chants
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Examines the aesthetic principles and spiritual operations at work in Hagia Sophia. Drawing on art and architectural history, liturgy, musicology, and acoustics, explores the Byzantine paradigm of animation.
Author: Ken Dark
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
ISBN: 9781789259872
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
An archaeological re-examination of the cathedral of Byzantine Constantinople, with fresh evidence about the appearance and function of the complex enabling us to reconsider what Hagia Sophia can tell us about the wider Byzantine world.
Author: Nadine Schibille
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317124154
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
Paramount in the shaping of early Byzantine identity was the construction of the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (532-537 CE). This book examines the edifice from the perspective of aesthetics to define the concept of beauty and the meaning of art in early Byzantium. Byzantine aesthetic thought is re-evaluated against late antique Neoplatonism and the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius that offer fundamental paradigms for the late antique attitude towards art and beauty. These metaphysical concepts of aesthetics are ultimately grounded in experiences of sensation and perception, and reflect the ways in which the world and reality were perceived and grasped, signifying the cultural identity of early Byzantium. There are different types of aesthetic data, those present in the aesthetic object and those found in aesthetic responses to the object. This study looks at the aesthetic data embodied in the sixth-century architectural structure and interior decoration of Hagia Sophia as well as in literary responses (ekphrasis) to the building. The purpose of the Byzantine ekphrasis was to convey by verbal means the same effects that the artefact itself would have caused. A literary analysis of these rhetorical descriptions recaptures the Byzantine perception and expectations, and at the same time reveals the cognitive processes triggered by the Great Church. The central aesthetic feature that emerges from sixth-century ekphraseis of Hagia Sophia is that of light. Light is described as the decisive element in the experience of the sacred space and light is simultaneously associated with the notion of wisdom. It is argued that the concepts of light and wisdom are interwoven programmatic elements that underlie the unique architecture and non-figurative decoration of Hagia Sophia. A similar concern for the phenomenon of light and its epistemological dimension is reflected in other contemporary monuments, testifying to the pervasiveness of these aesthetic values in early Byzantium.
Author: Natalia Teteriatnikov
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks Studies
ISBN: 9780884024231
Category : Mosaics, Byzantine
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
The architectural jewel of Constantinople is the church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), constructed 532-537 CE. Although the edifice built by Justinian remains almost intact, only some of its original mosaics survive. In the first comprehensive study, Natalia Teteriatnikov describes the original mosaic program of the church and its restorations after the earthquake of 558. Drawing from decades of her personal research and scholarship on St. Sophia, the author analyzes the material and decorative components of the Justinianic mosaics that survive. She considers the architectural and theological aesthetics, as well as the social conditions that led to the production of a distinctive, aniconic mosaic program. Lavishly illustrated, the book includes a catalog of the nineteenth-century watercolors created by Gaspare Fossati--the only surviving evidence for reconstructing mosaics that are no longer extant.
