Aya Sophia

    In the time I spent in Istanbul I visited the Agia Sophia or Church of the Holy Wisdom five times. I am going to have to start researching for more primary sources about that ancient icon to two major religions today. I am glad it is a museum today and not a church or a Mosque!! I have always had a draw to the Agia Sophia since I first read about it years ago. I would spend 2-3 hours in there just walking around and looking and I just could not leave. It was like some invisible force kept me there and in many ways I think I left my soul behind because my mind is still there. For Greeks and Greeks Americans it is a cultural magnet and besides the ancestral connection there was so much drama that took place there. I have ordered the book O' Byzantium from the library so maybe it will mention the Agia Sophia as well. I would also sit in the park between the Blue Mosque and the great church and just stare at it for an hour or so, only a history nerd would do that. The Alexiad mentions it briefly but I need to find more sources.
    

Edited by eaglecap - 23-Dec-2006 at 22:30

Try this one, which is on a pretty cool site: http://www.byzantium1200.com/hagia.html

i wonder how was hagia sophia's look before it burnt down.

Also the crusader#s really damaged it, one of the domes had collapsed and the other one was leaking, then Kodja Sinan added his Dome style to it to save the building.

There's some semi-domes on the side and they were leaking, its fair to say that the Crusaders mistreated the building the most, also they changed it into a Cathedral but for some reason most of this is ignored.

I should say that Turks respected Hagia Sophia much more than Latins...there is an incident in 1204 when the latter placed a prostitute in the Patriarch's throne inside H.S....

Originally posted by eaglecap I have ordered the book O' Byzantium from the library so maybe it will mention the Agia Sophia as well.

Originally posted by Batu Hagia Sophia brings tourists,of course we respect it.:)

I think that s a verry incorrect awnser .

The aya sofya is a magnifesent building it's averry important building for Turkish culture who isn't only Central asian you know.

Most mosk that the ottomans made were more or less  copies of this temple.....

This building inb my eyes does not belong to the turks or greks but too the world because of its beauty

LOL not another Hagia Sophia "battle" please.

The Zeyrek Church is another great example of Byzantine architecture and has been restored very well recently.