While many go to the Ayasofya to take in its majesty, some go with the sole purpose of sticking their finger in the building’s “weeping column” in hopes that their prayer for healing or other such miracles might be heard.

Taken from the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus it now stands in the northern corner of the museum. Made of white marble with a bronze belt that circles the lower part of the column, a hole toward the base and the water which drops out of it are associated with …

Originally constructed between the 3rd and 4th centuries of the Early Roman Age as a commercial, legal, and artistic centre, the Basilica derives its name from the large public square it was constructed beneath.
The Stoa Basilica stood on the First Hill of Constantinople, and was said to contain gardens enclosed by a colonnade that faced the Hagia Sophia, before later being converted into a cistern – reportedly requiring the manpower of some 7000 slaves. This allowed for the buildings of the First Hill – including the Topkapi Palace – to …

The design of this mosque must be accredited to the culmination of over two centuries worth of Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church architecture. Merging elements from the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic design it is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period with construction being completed in June 1616.
However some of the glass panes used within the mosque for the dome windows were received as a gift from the Signoria of Venice. And in present day all of the coloured glass has been replaced by …

The conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II in 1453 CE saw the Hagia Sophia pillaged as the invaders believed it to contain the greatest treasures of the city, and became as a result the focal point of the siege. Unfortunately the church was being used as a refuge for those unable to contribute in the city’s defense, and congregants who had gone to the basilica to pray. Those not slaughtered as the invaders battered their way in, were enslaved and divided amongst the Ottomans.
Immediately after the conquest the Hagia …

The Hagia Sophia is actually the third of three churches that have been built since the first “Great Church” was inaugurated on February 15, 360 CE by Emperor Constantius II. The church was called this because it was larger than most of the contemporary churches in the city at the time, and acted in concert with the Hagia Eirene – “Holy Peace” – as the principal churches of the Byzantine Empire and was said to be one of the world’s most impressive monuments at the time.

However when the Constantinople patriarch …

The “Sunken Palace” is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Located just southwest of the Hagia Sophia, the cistern was built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian between 527 and 566 CE.

While the majority of the columns supporting the cistern ceiling are of either Corinthian or Ionic style, at the back of the cistern two columns can be found which instead have Medusa heads for their bases.

The decision to use the heads does raise an interesting question of why?
Traditionally pictures and sculptures …

Constructed between 532 and 537 CE by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, the Hagia Sophia – from the Greek meaning “Church of the Holy Wisdom of God” – for over 900 years served as the Orthodox basilica for the Greek Patriarchal of Constantinople, and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
And for that time it was the largest cathedral in the world.

Famous for its massive dome, some consider it to be the epitome of Byzantine architecture, even to have changed the history of architecture itself, and despite the …