Theotokos Mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople [Istanbul Turkey]

Theotokos Mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Turkey

by DR. STEVEN ZUCKER and DR. BETH HARRIS

I

n the video Drs. Steven Zucker and Beth Harris walk their audience through Hagia Sophia Basilica and point them towards her heart–the Theotokos Mosaic. The two beautifully contemplate the mosaic's elements both material and spiritual as well as its huge historical import. Hagia Sophia (Turkish: Ayasofya, from the Greek: Αγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was the largest cathedral ever built in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The Church is a repository of a large collection of holy relics, e.g., a 50 foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. This was the patriarchal church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the bastion of Christianity for the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly a millennium.

Designed by two architects, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, the current building was built originally to serve as a church between 532—537 AD on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. It was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site (the previous two had been razed by rioters).