Ogeebolu » Churches

Hagia Sophia

Irving — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:07:18 +0000

On June 26, 1996, we visited the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Let me give you a short history of the city. The occupation of this city goes back to pre-historic times. The city began as an ancient Greek colony and was called Byzantium around the 7th Century B.C. It had an agora along with at least three temples. Later the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus expanded it beyond the Greek acropolis by going further inland. He built walls and this expansion was known as Severus City. The turning point came when Constantine the Great shifted the capital of the Empire to Constantinople. The Roman Empire was weakening in the west and he decided to rebuild it. In 313 A.D. he signed the Edict of Milan, which proclaimed religious tolerance in the land. In 330 A.D. the city was inaugurated and became a Christian city. The revival of the Roman Empire came with Christianity’s expansion towards the west. In 395 A.D. the Roman Empire officially divided east and west.

In the 6th Century, Justinian took over the throne and Hagia Sophia was built as an imperial church. What Justinian had in mind was the same as Constantine’s. He wanted to restore Christianity in the west and the Ravenna building program was a big part of that. His campaign was set upon perfecting a formula for a domed centralized space for the church. The longitudinal axis of the basilica was dissolved to give rise to the vertical emphasis above.

Here at Hagia Sophia, we see a perfect synthesis of the basilica and dome. This church form continued in the eastern part of the Empire. The west continued to keep its basilica type, which evolved into the Romanesque and Gothic styles of architecture you see today. It was a remarkable sight to see the longitudinal directionality towards the apse coupled with the vertical symbolic axis up the dome.

The original dome collapsed because it was too shallow. You can compare it with the Pantheon. The structural system has 4 huge piers and arches spanning these piers. Buttresses take the thrust. It is similar to St. Peter’s Church in Rome with its courtyard and series of narthexes. Marble columns were brought from everywhere in the Empire.

The interior decoration came out of a mosaic program of fragmented, light and golden tesserae. The apse figure mosaic of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child is from the 9th Century. As this was an imperial church, there was no christian modesty here. The imperial family flanking the religious figures was part of the imperial propaganda.

Our eyes continued to move upwards. We noted that the upper parts were reserved for women. The quality of light and perforations can be compared to Sinan’s mosques. The columns have basket capitals and ionic volutes – solid and similar to San Vitale.

The sketch to the left is of Hagia Sophia. The one to the right is of the “Blue Mosque” – also visited on that day.

Pantokrator

Irving — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:09:47 +0000

On June 28, 1996, we visited the second largest religious edifice built by the Byzantines in Istanbul behind Hagia Sophia. Originally known as Theotokos Pantokrator, and later renamed Molla Zeyrek Camii after the Ottoman conquest and fall of Constantinople in 1453, this building is a great example of medieval Byzantine architecture. It was first built by Princess Eirene of the Komnena dynasty. Her husband built another church to the north. There is a funerary chapel in between the two churches that became the imperial mausoleum.

The structure is raised on cylindrical drums with window perforations. Bands of brick masonry, particularly around the arches and niches, give the exterior some articulation and color that is distinctive of Byzantine architecture. The recessed brick technique was used and is typical of the Byzantine architecture of the middle period.

Natural light is used very well here. The light gave us good sight to the elaborate frescoes and floor decoration in opus sectile (marble cut into shape). The minbar inside is maybe built from spolia taken from this church itself or it may have been taken from other churches.

Church of St. John of Studios

Irving — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:56:19 +0000

This church is the earliest basilica in Istanbul and predates Hagia Sophia. Built in 463 AD, the church had traditional aisles, nave and apse. The roof didn’t survive at all as shown on the sketch. There were marble carvings on the classical capital of the column we observed. The capital seemed to be a dilution of the capitals in classical times. The base is not eastern, but a simulation of a western base.

On the same day, we went to Mihrimah Mosque.

Kariye Camii

Irving — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:34:29 +0000

This mosque in Istanbul, now a museum (Kariye Müzesi), was once called the St. Savior in Chora Church and was built in the 11th century. It had several stages of building, but during the present state of our visit, the building dated from the 14th century. It is very typical of late Byzantine churches. The drums are perforated and raised and the brickwork on the exterior is very fine.

The barrel vaults of the interior had a scalloped pattern, which were destroyed. The vault was a corrugated roof originally. There are fine frescoes and mosaics with their quality found in bodily effects (that happened in Italy at the same time). The iconography consisted of the mosaic of Christ and the mosaic of the Virgin Mary; for the importance of dedication was to both. We saw the mosaic of Metochites, who was the caretaker, in the narthex above the entrance to the nave. The mosaics here were reminiscent of the one in 6th century Hagia Sophia.

There is the genealogy of Christ, scenes of the Virgin Mary and many more from top to bottom of the pendentives as we entered the church proper with central dome. From the exterior to the interior, the order of the mosaics were depicted. Finally in the paracclesion, a funerary chapel to the side that was added later, we found Christ relieving Adam and in Eve in Hell, the Anastasis of Hell. We were told to pay attention to the light here.

Afterwards, we visited the Theodosian Wall.

Inside the Holy Cross

Irving — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:07:27 +0000

Akdamar Kilisesi is also sometimes known as the Holy Apostle. It is located on a small island called Akdamar Island in Lake Van in the eastern Anatolian region of Turkey. The church was an important Armenian cathedral, a seat for the Armenian Orthodox patriarch, and was founded by King Gagik I of the Armenian kingdom of Vaspurakan between 915 and 921, alongside a royal palace and monastery. The king had an appellation and wanted it built in this vicinity as a court-church-palace. It was tacked on later by annexes as late as the 18th century. The church was used continuously until 1519. In 1918, it passed on to the Russians.

It is covered with frescoes inside. The dome contains scenes of Adam and Eve. Here is a sketch of the interior and a quick one at a distance.

Church of the Holy Cross

Irving — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:57:23 +0000

The church takes the form of a polygonal dome, which is surrounded by a pyramidal roof. The royal entrance is now observed by a bell tower. It has a wonderfully carved exterior, of Armenian origin around the windows and portals. The depictions spread out just beneath the pyramidal roof going down to cornice level; there is a running relief below the roof containing almost freestanding animals and vine scrolls. There are 4 different bands with many different influences. There are scenes from the Gospel as well as some of imperial and mythological nature.

The monument is a great example where amalgamation occurs from many different civilizations dating back to 1500 BC. When speaking of modes of depiction, we should remember the Hittites and how their deities are done in an intertwined fashion. But here, it’s Christian. There is Jonah and the Whale, David and Goliath, and Christ depicted. The carvings are also similar to the Assyrian reliefs of animals, but again it’s Christian here. The idea of many ferocious animals in enjoyment patterns is very rustic.

It is no question that the exterior is evoking the Holy Book with heraldic figures or winged creatures. It should be noted that Adam and Eve are not done in Greek proportion here.

Great Cathedral of Ani

Irving — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:20:57 +0000

The Great Cathedral of Ani is also known as the Fethiye Mosque. During the Turkish siege of 1064, the church held a great symbolic importance for the looters. The cathedral was converted to a mosque and renamed with the direct translation of Victory Mosque. The building was started by the King of Ani – Smbat II in 987 AD and was finished by King Gagik I in 1010 AD. The building’s architect was Trdat and the sketch above is of the southern facade. The building is in the form of a domed basilica and made entirely from stone as most Armenian buildings of the time.

Ani was an important city and capital of Armenia in the 10th century AD. The city had many encounters with the Byzantines and Seljuks as they alternated control. The Armenians got control of Ani for good between the 12th and 13th centuries and many monuments were built. It was an important trading hub.

Church of the Redeemer

Irving — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:31:17 +0000

This large church was built in 1035 in the uninhabited, medieval city of Ani. The building is circular with a very tall and wide drum, that is unusually not divided into a polygon here. It has 8 apses in the interior with the altar being the largest. On both sides of the altar apse are carved out chapels. The large apse and the chapels probably were the structural weak points that led to the church’s damage and subsequent collapse. It is made of stone and concrete conglomerate, which resulted in a monolithic structure. The church is unique and is one of the most pure geometrical Armenian churches with cylindrical and spherical volumes.

Uckumbetler

Irving — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:51:47 +0000

Uckumbetler is a complex of Seljukid tombs from the 13th and 14th centuries in Erzurum. It is behind the Cifte Minare. The forms that the tombs take are common in the region and they belong to the drums of Christian religious buildings. All of these tombs have antecedent detailing from the Syrian churches of the 6th and 7th centuries. The continuous bands around the drums belong to antecedent Christian work from the northern Mesopotamian region.