1. basilica
Since the 4th century, Christianity has taken on a modified form of profane basilica as a sacred space. “It has already received major features from Constantine the Great, who have undergone certain changes afterwards. Christian basilicas most commonly have three naves separated by columns; there was a place for women in the galleries above the side ships.
2. pyramid
Hagia Sophia Church in Constantinople is the most famous building of Byzantine art. The base is a combination of a longitudinal basilica and a central type with a dome in the middle. Then the world's largest dome is supported by two semi-domes and spherical (circular) triangles called pandatifs. The dome is studded with windows and glittering mosaics, so it looks like it's weightless. On the outside, the volume is closed with flat geometric surfaces, while on the inside the wall is completely dematerialized with marble formwork and mosaics, giving it a painterly character.
3. mosque
The Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia was built in 537 AD and converted into a mosque in 1453, during the Ottoman Empire. It was then converted into a museum in 1935. Hagia Sophia is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
4. minarets
Minaret, at first was the name for signal towers and lighthouses at sea, then for the slender and tall tower next to the mosque. The minaret is usually a square, polygonal or circular floor plan; it has internal stairs with one or more balconies, from which the faithful are invated to prayer. The oldest minaret was built next to the Mosque in Damascus (beginning of the 8th century).
5. icon
The icon is a painting on a tree, canvas or stone with the image of Jesus Christ, the Virgin, other saints, angels or events related to church history and Scripture. They are present in all Orthodox temples, where they are placed on iconostasis and walls.
6. plain
The walls of Hagia Sophia testified in 1054 to an event in which Cardinal excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael on behalf of the Roman Pope, after which the patriarch on the spot announced both him and the pope. This is called the Great Schism today, though it was only the beginning.
7. triangular
Isidor the Younger, the nephew of Isidor from Miletus, used lightweight materials during the construction and raised the dome 6.25 meters upwards, so that Hagia Sophia reached its current internal height of 55.6 meters. In addition, Isidor the Younger also changed the type of dome by building a ribbed with pendants. All this was necessary because the original dome collapsed precisely because it was too shallow, thus overloading the load-bearing structure.
8. painted glass
The mosaics within this monumental place of worship were only completed during Justinian's successor and sister, Justin II.
In 1204, the Latins vandalized a large number of interior decorations, and many gold mosaics were taken to Venice. What was left behind, as well as what the Greeks rebuilt after the city was reclaimed, was repackaged after the arrival of the Turks. Premaltered and fortunately forgotten and preserved.
9. light and dark
In Hagia Sophia one of the largest corpus of mosaic emperors is preserved. They are votive mosaics, on which emperors are depicted as offering gifts or worshiping Christ and the Virgin. Located on the walls of the church, in the space where the characters of saints are usually housed, the emperors themselves, depicted with haloes on their heads, are perceived as sacred figures.
10. mosaics
Mosaics were rediscovered in the nineteenth century when the mortar began to fall off and the sultan remained silent in the face of that beauty and ordered that he should not touch at all.
11. death
Mary and Martha sent a message to Jesus that their brother Lazarus was ill. Jesus delayed his journey and arrived four days after Lazarus passed away. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead with love and compassion. This dramatic account of divine power emphasizes that Jesus was the chosen Messiah and had power over death. After learning of this miracle, the chief priests and Pharisees plotted to kill Jesus and Lazarus.
12. Mehmed II
When Constantinople finally fell under Turkish invasion on May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmed II gave his army permission to loot and pillage New Rome without interruption for three days. Such was the custom of those times. From that moment the city became a capital of the Ottoman Empire.
