A brief history of Hagia Sophia

It is the most complicated infrastructure of human history and a great example of intolerant among Abrahamic religion the Hagia Sophia, this place was the largest Greek Orthodox Christian church for almost one thousand years. However, it will be very hard to find any remains of its Greek history.

It was built in the 4th century by Constantine the Great. Constantine was the founder of the city of Constantinople and the first Roman Christian emperor, which he claimed “The New Rome.”

Hagia Sophia was one of several great churches he built in important cities throughout his empire. Following the destruction of Constantine’s church, a second was built by his son Constantius and the emperor Theodosius the Great. This second church was burned down during the Nika riots of 532, though fragments of it have been excavated and can be seen today. Hagia Sophia was rebuilt in her present form between 532 and 537 Under the rule of Justinian the Emperor, and with a force of 10,000 workers, the dome atop the church of Hagia Sophia was built in record time: it took just five years, ten months, and four days to complete. But when construction began, Anthemius found himself in a geometric fix. It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings. After completion, Justinian is said to have exclaimed, Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών (“Solomon, I have outdone thee!”).

it Remains a Byzantine Christian church from 537-1054 but After the great earthquake of 25 October 989, which collapsed the Western dome arch, Emperor Basil II asked for the Armenian architect Trdat, creator of the cathedrals of Ani and Argina, to direct the repairs. He erected again and reinforced the fallen dome arch, and rebuilt the west side of the dome with 15 dome ribs. The extent of the damage required six years of repair and reconstruction; the church was re-opened on 13 May 994.

Upon the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, the church was ransacked and desecrated by the Crusaders, as described by the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates. During the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204–1261) and Turned into a Greek orthodox church from 1054- 1204.

Upon the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, the church was ransacked and desecrated by the Crusaders, as described by the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates. During the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204–1261) the church became a Roman Catholic cathedral. Baldwin I of Constantinople was crowned emperor on 16 May 1204 in Hagia Sophia, at a ceremony which closely followed Byzantine practices. Enrico Dandolo, the Doge of Venice who commanded the sack and invasion of the city by the Latin Crusaders in 1204, is buried inside the church, probably in the upper Eastern gallery. In the 19th century, an Italian restoration team placed a cenotaph marker near the probable location, which is still visible today. The marker is frequently mistaken by tourists as being a medieval marker of the actual tomb of the doge. The real tomb was destroyed by the Ottomans after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and subsequent conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque.

After the recapture in 1261 by the Byzantines, the church was in a dilapidated state. In 1317, emperor Andronicus II ordered four new buttresses (Pyramídas, Greek: "Πυραμίδας") to be built in the eastern and northern parts of the church, financing them with the inheritance of his deceased wife, Irene.[39] New cracks developed in the dome after the earthquake of October 1344, and several parts of the building collapsed on 19 May 1346; consequently, the church was closed until 1354, when repairs were undertaken by architects Astras and Peralta.

In 1453 and like always the peaceful say it's ours and turn it into a mosque because Constantinople fell to the attacking Ottoman forces on 29 May 1453. In accordance with the traditional custom at the time, Sultan Mehmet II allowed his troops and his entourage three full days of unbridled pillage and looting in the city shortly after it was captured. Once the three days passed, he would then claim its remaining contents for himself. Hagia Sophia was not exempted from the pillage and looting and specifically became its focal point as the invaders believed it to contain the greatest treasures and valuables of the city. Shortly after Constantinople's defenses collapsed and the Ottoman troops entered the city victoriously, the pillagers and looters made their way to the Hagia Sophia and battered down its doors before storming in.

In 1935 when Kemal Ataturk, a secularist sees the problem and converts it into a museum. Now, Erdogan an Islamist has started turning his back on the secular values of Turkey and turned it into a mosque again. Turks need to decide, either they become the only secular and prosperous country in the Muslim world or follow their other fellow Muslim countries into the abyss of darkness, and ask themselves a question that if it’s alright to turn a church into a mosque only because Muslims have conquered the land than won’t it also fare if Israel turns Al Aksa into the third temple.