# Hagia Sophia: From Justinian to Atatürk to Museum

An episode of [The Story of Turkey: From Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire to Today — Fexingo History](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1895450461), 2 Aug 2026, 11 min.

Audio: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-story-of-turkey/episode-0192.mp3

In this episode of The Story of Turkey, Lucas and Luna explore the layered history of Hagia Sophia, the great church-turned-mosque-turned-museum-turned-mosque in Istanbul. From its construction under Justinian in 537, through the Fourth Crusade's desecration, the Ottoman conversion under Mehmed the Conqueror, the additions of Sinan, and its modern re-designations under Atatürk and Erdoğan, they trace how this building became a symbol of empire and faith. Along the way, they discuss the original bronze doors, the mysterious weeping column, the restoration by the Fossati brothers, and the UNESCO debate over its mosaic preservation. This episode offers a vivid architectural history and a reflection on how monuments carry memory. #HagiaSophia #Byzantium #OttomanEmpire #Justinian #MehmedTheConqueror #Istanbul #Constantinople #Mosaics #Sinan #Atatürk #Museum #UNESCO #Architecture #ByzantineHistory #OttomanHistory #Turkey #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

## Transcript

Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the walls of Constantinople, about the Hippodrome, about the conquests and the sultans. But there's one building that anchors the whole story — and we haven't really given it its own episode yet. Hagia Sophia.
Luna: Wait, have we really not done a whole episode on it? It feels like it's been in every episode so far.
Lucas: Exactly, it's always in the background. So let's bring it forward. Because the story of Hagia Sophia is really the story of how a city can change faiths and still keep its soul.
Lucas: It starts with Justinian, that same emperor from the Nika Riots episode. After the riots tore the city apart in 532, he decided to rebuild the church of Holy Wisdom — Hagia Sophia — on a scale no one had attempted before. He hired two scientists, Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, who weren't really architects, they were more like physicists and mathematicians.
Luna: So they were like ancient engineers with a grand vision.
Lucas: Right. And their vision was a dome that seemed to float in mid-air. They used pendentives — those curved triangles that transition from a square base to a circular dome — and they pushed the dome so high that light poured in through forty windows around its base. Procopius, the historian we've mentioned, wrote that it seemed 'not to rest upon solid masonry, but to cover the place with a golden sphere suspended from heaven.'
Lucas: And there's that famous moment — when Justinian first entered the completed church in 537, he supposedly said, 'Solomon, I have outdone you.' Whether he actually said it or it's a later legend, it captures the imperial ambition.
Luna: But then the dome actually collapsed, didn't it? I remember reading something about that.
Lucas: Oh, yes. About twenty years later, after earthquakes, the main dome partially collapsed. Isidorus the Younger, the nephew of one of the original builders, rebuilt it — slightly steeper, a bit more stable. And that's the dome we still see today, more or less, even after all the subsequent repairs.
Lucas: So for nine centuries, Hagia Sophia was the greatest church in Christendom. The seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople. When the Fourth Crusade sacked the city in 1204, they stripped it of its treasures — even the altar was smashed. And when the Palaiologan emperors returned in 1261, they tried to restore some of its splendor, but it was never quite the same.
Luna: And then came 1453 — the conquest that changed everything.
Lucas: Exactly. When Mehmed the Conqueror rode into the city, he went straight to Hagia Sophia. He saw the state of the building, and he recognized its power. He ordered it converted into a mosque — that very day, apparently. He also protected the mosaics, at least some of them, because he wanted to preserve the building's beauty. He added a wooden minaret, and later sultans added the four we see today, plus the great imperial mausoleums outside.
Lucas: So for the next four hundred eighty years, it was a mosque. The Ottomans added their own religious elements — the mihrab, the minbar, the huge calligraphic medallions with the names of Allah, Muhammad, and the first caliphs. They also whitewashed over the Christian mosaics, probably for practical reasons — to cover them, and because in Islamic practice, figural art in a mosque isn't typical.
Luna: So the mosaics were hidden away, but they weren't destroyed. They were just… waiting.
Lucas: Yes — waiting for the twentieth century. And here's where the building's modern story gets really interesting, because after World War One, the Ottoman Empire collapses, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the new Turkish Republic, makes a radical move. In 1934, he issues a decree converting Hagia Sophia into a museum.
Lucas: The idea was to turn it into a symbol of the new secular Turkey — a place where people of all faiths and none could come and appreciate it as a work of human genius, rather than a site of worship tied to one religion. And so the whitewash was carefully removed, and the mosaics were brought back to light. They were weathered, but they were still there.
Luna: It's almost like the building was breathing again, after all those centuries.
Lucas: That's a lovely way to put it. And for decades, Hagia Sophia stood as a museum — a symbol of coexistence, of shared heritage. It became a UNESCO World Heritage site. Pilgrims and tourists from all over the world could walk through the same doors that had welcomed emperors and sultans, and they could see the dome that had inspired both Christian and Islamic architects.
Lucas: And it's interesting, you know — when the museum status was granted, it wasn't just Atatürk's secular vision. There was also a practical dimension. Turkey was a young republic trying to build a modern national identity, and having a museum that showcased the layers of its history — Byzantine and Ottoman — helped create a narrative of continuity, a bridge between the past and the present.
Luna: So it was a political act as much as a cultural one.
Lucas: Definitely. And that's why the recent changes have been so controversial. In 2020, the Turkish government under President Erdoğan annulled the museum status and converted Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. The official reasoning was that it was fulfilling the will of the Ottoman conquerors, and that the building had always been a mosque in spirit. But many people — including international cultural organizations and the Greek government — saw it as a political move, a way to appeal to conservative and religious voters, and a worrying signal about secularism in Turkey.
Lucas: And there are real practical concerns. The mosaics — those beautiful, fragile Byzantine mosaics — are now partially covered by curtains during prayers, and there are worries about the long-term preservation of the images, especially with the increased footfall of worshippers, not to mention the humidity from so many people breathing in such an enclosed space.
Luna: It's like the building is caught between two identities — the church and the mosque — and it can't fully be either.
Lucas: That's a very astute observation. And it's what makes Hagia Sophia so emblematic of Turkey's own struggle with its identity — the tug between its Byzantine Christian heritage, its Ottoman Islamic past, and its modern secular republic. The building is literally a palimpsest, with layers of history written over each other, and every time the political wind shifts, someone tries to scrape away a layer.
Lucas: I think that's one of the reasons we wanted to do this episode — to give people a deeper appreciation for the building itself, beyond the headlines. You know, we've talked about how this show is supported by listeners who appreciate that kind of depth. And if you've been stepping into history with us, and you find value in these conversations — whether it's about the Byzantines or the Ottomans or the modern debates — we'd be grateful if you'd consider supporting the show on buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's what keeps this ad-free and lets us dig into these long, winding stories.
Luna: Yeah, it does feel like a labor of love. And it lets us explore these layers that you don't get on a quick tour.
Lucas: Exactly. So, moving on from the modern politics — let's go back to some of the physical details, because that's where the magic is. For instance, there's the so-called 'weeping column' in the north aisle. It's a column that is always damp, and legend says that if you stick your finger in the hole and it comes out wet, your wishes will come true. It's been there since the Byzantine era, and even today, you'll see people queuing up to touch it, Muslims and tourists alike.
Luna: I've seen pictures of that. It's so strange and wonderful.
Lucas: And then there are the bronze doors — the Imperial Gate, which is said to have been made from the wood of Noah's Ark, according to one legend. In reality, it's a finely crafted bronze door, but the legend adds to the building's mystique.
Luna: Noah's Ark — that's a new one.
Lucas: It just shows how every inch of this building has acquired stories over the centuries. But the real treasure is the mosaics. The ones that survived are mostly from the 9th and 10th centuries, like the Deesis mosaic in the upper south gallery, which depicts Christ flanked by Mary and John the Baptist. It's considered one of the finest examples of Byzantine art, with a realism that was ahead of its time. And then there's the Alexander mosaic, which is actually a later discovery — it was found in 1935, hidden under plaster, and it portrays Alexander the Great, which is a bit of an anomaly in a Christian church.
Lucas: There's also the empress Zoe mosaic, where the face of the empress was replaced — literally, the original face was scraped off and a new one was painted in, probably after she was restored to power. So even in the art, you can trace the political intrigues of the Byzantine court.
Luna: That's incredible — the mosaics are like a history book, if you know how to read them.
Lucas: And the building also holds the tomb of a Venetian doge, believe it or not — Enrico Dandolo, the old blind doge who led the Fourth Crusade. His tomb is in the upper gallery, and it's a reminder of the violent past that this building has witnessed. Though I should note, there's some debate whether it's actually his tomb, or just a monument to him.
Lucas: Over the centuries, Hagia Sophia has also inspired other buildings. The Süleymaniye Mosque, built by the great Ottoman architect Sinan for Suleiman the Magnificent, was explicitly designed to surpass Hagia Sophia in scale and splendor. Sinan even wrote about how he studied the Byzantine structure and tried to improve on its engineering. So the building's influence reaches far beyond its own walls.
Luna: It's like the building is a conversation across centuries.
Lucas: It really is. And that conversation is still going on, especially with the recent restoration efforts. The Turkish government has been doing extensive work on the building — cleaning the marble, reinforcing the structure, repairing the mosaics. It's a massive undertaking, and it has sparked debates about how much restoration is appropriate, especially when it might alter the historical fabric.
Lucas: So when you stand in the nave and look up at that dome, you're not just looking at a building. You're looking at the history of a city, a people, and a faith that has been reshaped by empires and revolutions. And I think that's what makes it so powerful — it's a mirror of human ambition and adaptability.
Luna: It makes me want to go there someday and just sit and look up.
Lucas: I think that's the best way to experience it. And who knows — by the time you go, it might be a museum again, or a mosque, or something else entirely. But the building will still be there, keeping its secrets and stories.

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