Heavens Meets Earth

Heaven Meets Earth

Christians believe in Jesus, the son of God, and their religion is based on his life and teachings. Christians were persecuted for many years during the Roman Empire, but in AD 313 Emperor Constantine made the religion legal. He then left the city of Rome and moved east by Byzantium and established a new Christian capital named Constantinople, which is now Istanbul in Turkey.

The Roman Empire later split into east and west. The western empire collapsed after it was invaded many times by nomadic tribes from central Asia,, but the eastern part survived to become the Byzantine Empire. Christianity as it developed there is called Orthodox Christianity. Hagia Sophia was the magnificent Orthodox church in Constantinople and it inspired builders of Orthodox churches for centuries. The great dome at the center of the church represented the heavens. The floor below represented life on Earth.

The Pantheon

For many years, the dome of the Pantheon, in Rome, Italy, baffled modern engineers. They did not know how the ancient Romans managed to build such a large dome. Then they discovered that the dome was made of concrete that becomes lighter as it gets higher because each level is mixed with lighter stones such as volcanic pumice.

For many hundreds of years the dome of the Pantheon was the largest in the world. It measures 142 ft across and is the same in height. Walls 16 ft thick buttress the base of the dome.

Wall of a Temple. Photo by Elena.

The church today

Four towers called minarets surround Hagia Sophia. They were added when the Islamic Ottoman Turks, founders of modern Turkey, conquered the Byzantine Empire and converted the church into a mosque.

Central dome

The large, lightweight dome is built of a single layer of brick and is 107 ft wide. It has a row of arched windows cut into its base.

The Congregation

There were no seats in Hagia Sophia. Worshippers stood in the space beyond the columns – the men in the aisle below and the women in the gallery above – to listen to the singing of the Orthodox church service.

Half domes

A half dome at each end lengthens the nave to 250 ft and buttresses the main dome by pressing against its base.

Decorating with Mosaics

A mosaic is a design of picture made up of small pieces of colored glass or stone that are mounted on a wall or ceiling. Mosaics seem to glow in the dimmest light. At one time, many colorful mosaics covered the ceilings of Hagia Sophia. Jesus and other great leaders and heroes of Christianity were portrayed in mosaics against a gold background, which symbolized Heaven.

Hagia Sophia

Byzantine architects began this church in Constantunople in 532, during the reign of Emperor Justinian. They finished it six years and it soon became the model for future Orthodox churches. The clergy, the worldly ruler, under the great domes, where the teaching of Jesus were read.