Hagia+Sophia+(St.+Sophia)

= Hagia Sophia (St.Sophia) =

History
After the conquest of Constantinople Mehmed ll converted Hagia St.Sophia into Aya Sofya mosque. On June 1453 Mehmet ll attended to the first fray day prayer. Aya Sofya became the first mosque of Istanbul. At one time Hagia St. Sophia was used ad a refuge for people that were unable to contribute to the cities border defense. Trapped in the church congregants and refugees became booty to be divided among the invaders. The building was desecrated and looted, and occupants enslaved or slaughtered, a few of the elderly and infirm were killed and remainders chained.

Characteristics
Hagia Sophia has columns of granite, about 20 meters high. The nave is covered by a central dome which at its maximun heught is 55.6m tall and rests on na arcade of 40 arched windows. At the western and eastern entrances there are arched openings extended by half domes. In interior surfaces there are marbles, green and white with purple porphyry, and gold mosaics. The dome is carried on four triangular pendentives

People and places
Sultan Mehmed - Conquered Hagia St.Sophia Mehmed ll - Converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque Selim ll - Fixed the outside Mustafa Kemal - Removed Carpets Mimar Sinan (first earthquake engeenier) - Fixed the mosque The turkish government financially supported the restorations

Renovations and changes
Hagia Sophia had lots of transformations, from a Church to a Mosque, a mosque to a museum so it had lots of changes because of its history.
 * 1) Two giant candle sticks placed at each side of the mihrab
 * 2) The building was strengthened with the addition of structural supports to its exterior
 * 3) They built two additional minarets at the western end of the builduing
 * 4) They added the sultan's loge
 * 5) Add a Turbe
 * 6) Two more minarets
 * 7) Turned into a mosque
 * 8) Mosaics covered with plaster
 * 9) Carpets removed, marble floor
 * 10) Plaster removed from mosaics, turned into a museum
 * 11) Structural stabilization
 * 12) repair of thecracked roof
 * 13) preservation of the domes interior

Links
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