Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
Name of Building
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
Town or City, Country where the building was originally established
Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey
Date the building was designed and/or first built
532 - Construction begins
537 - Construction is completed
1453 - Constantinople falls to Ottoman forces and is converted from an Orthodox Christian church to a mosque
1919 - While under occupation during World War I by the British, French, Italian, and Greek forces, a Divine Liturgy is performed and the mosque is converted back into a church
1935 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkish President and founder of the Republic of Turkey, converts the building into a museum
2020 - Hagia Sophia is reclassified as a mosque
537 - Construction is completed
1453 - Constantinople falls to Ottoman forces and is converted from an Orthodox Christian church to a mosque
1919 - While under occupation during World War I by the British, French, Italian, and Greek forces, a Divine Liturgy is performed and the mosque is converted back into a church
1935 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkish President and founder of the Republic of Turkey, converts the building into a museum
2020 - Hagia Sophia is reclassified as a mosque
Name of Architect, Builder, or Primary Patron Responsible
Architect: Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus
Patron: Emperor Justinian I
Patron: Emperor Justinian I
Geo-Location
41.008663932307826, 28.98014281017376
Materials
Brick, mortar, wood, metal
Marble, pumice stone, glass
Architectural Type
Religious
Formal Style
Byzantine Architecture
Building Description
The Hagia Sophia is a classic example of Byzantine architecture. The mosque stands at 182 feet (55.6 m) tall. Its most prominent feature is its large central dome, surrounded and supported by four towering columns, known as minarets. Forty arched windows line the base of this large dome, but more than 200 windows light the structure overall, some of them fitted with stained glass. Smaller half-domes and a variety of columns also line the building’s facade, the latter of which were primarily recycled from older Roman structures. At its base, the structure takes a rectangular shape. Brick, mortar, wood, and metal comprise the outer and supportive structures, while marble, pumice stone, and glass were used for interior decorative features. Carved relief panels and mosaics depicting religious scenes can be found all along the interior. Other Byzantine-style motifs, such as acanthus leaves and palm fronds, can also be found carved into columns and marble panels.
Image source
Image 1: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Hagia_Sophia_Mars_2013.jpg/2560px-Hagia_Sophia_Mars_2013.jpg
Image 2: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Hagia_Sofia_%2814193941907%29.jpg/2560px-Hagia_Sofia_%2814193941907%29.jpg
Image 3: https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.12084479
Image 4: https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.18119327
Image 5: https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.18127412
Image 6: https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.12289773
Image 7: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deesis_mosaic_Hagia_Sophia.jpg
Creative Commons or other copyright information
Image 1: Creative Commons
Image 2: Creative Commons
Image 3: Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus, Greek. Church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), Constantinople Plan. 532-537. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.12084479. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Image 4: Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. Hagia Sophia. 532-537. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.18119327. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Image 5: Antelami, Benedetto, Italian, ca. 1150-ca. 1230. Hagia Sophia. 532-537. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.18127412. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Image 6: Hagia Sophia. 532-37. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.12289773. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Image 7: Creative Commons
Student First and Last Name
Brittany Lumanlan Martin
Collection
Citation
Architect: Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus
Patron: Emperor Justinian I, “Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque,” World Architecture, accessed June 28, 2026, https://worldarchitecture.artinterp2.org/items/show/46.
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