DomeIt is mostly the dome which makes Hagia Sophia world famous. The dome sits at the centre of the church. It is between two half domes which together equals to the diameters of the dome. The dome is built by brick and mortar, it is 31, 24 mt (102 ft 6 in) diameters and is 55, 6 mt (182 ft 5 in) high. Because of the several repairs and constructions in time, the dome lost its circular shape and the diameter became 31,24 mt (102 ft 6 in) to 30,86 mt (101 ft 3in).
The dome is carried on four pendentives and these pendentives enable its transition into the square shape of its piers below. These pendentives distribute the weight of the dome to the walls under it.
Hagia Sophia is a great architectural beauty and an important monument both for Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires. Once a church, later a mosque, and now a museum at the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sophia has always been the precious of its time.
The mystical city Istanbul hosted many civilizations since centuries, of which Byzantium and Ottoman Empires were both the most famous ones. The city today carries the characteristics of these two different cultures and surely Hagia Sophia is a perfect synthesis where one can observe both Ottoman and Byzantium effects under one great dome.
http://www.hagiasophia.com/
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