S. SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE (532-537 A.D):-(Hagia Sophia = " Divine Wisdom")• The Hagia Sophia, whose name means “holy wisdom,” is a domed monument originally built as a cathedral in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in the sixth century A.D. The architects were Anthemius of Tralles and Isodorus of Miletus.• It contains two floors centered on a giant nave that has a great dome ceiling, along with smaller domes, towering above.• “Hagia Sophia’s dimensions are formidable for any structure not built of steel,”• “In plan it is about 270 feet [82 meters] long and 240 feet [73 meters] wide. The dome is 108 feet [33 meters] in diameter boundedby four massive piers, 25 feet square and its crown rises some 180 feet [55 meters] above the pavement.”• East and west are great semicircular spaces,crowned with semi-domes, and out of these are formed smaller exedrae, in their turn covered with semi-domes.

The area thus formed is a great oval-ended nave 265 feet by 107 feet.• Outside this central area are aisles over 50 feet wide, in two stories, north and south, the upper story being for women. These aisles bring the main building approximately to a square which, excluding the apse and narthex, measures 250 feet by237 feet.• In its 1,400 year life-span it has served as a cathedral, mosque and now a museum. When it was first constructed, Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

• The narthex, to the west of the main building, was set apart for catechumens and penitents, and forms a grand apartment over 200 feet long by 30 feet wide ; it is in two stories, the upper forming a gallery to the church. Further west is the outer narthex and atrium, with marble columns and brick pillars.• To the north and south, forming continuations of the four great piers already mentioned, are massive buttresses, 25 feet wide by 70 feet long, pierced with double arches on the ground and upper story. These piers take the thrust of the main arches and dome on the two sides where there are no semi-domes.

LONGITUDINAL SECTION:-

• The domical method of construction governs the plan, which is subservient to it. The square central space is crowned with a dome, 1 80 feet above the pavement, but in itself only 47 feet in height above its base (i.e., less than a semi-dome).• The two semi-domes, east and west, abut against the great arches which support the central dome and act as buttresses to it on the east and west sides. The smaller exedrae are also covered with semi-domes, as has been stated. The pendentives carrying the central dome have a projection of 25 feet and a height of over 60 feet.

• The great piers supporting the dome are of stones, the rest of the building being of brickwork.• The walls and piers are lined with beautifully-colored marbles (Phrygian white, Laconian green, Lybian blue, Celtic black, white marble with black veins from the Bosphorus, and Thessalian marble), in varied patterns, fixed by means of metal cramps.• The floors are laid with colored mosaics of various patterns, and the vaults and domes are enriched with glass mosaics of the apostles, angels, and saints on a glittering golden ground.• The columns of many-colored marbles are used constructively to support the galleries which rest on a variety of groined vaults. Moulded bronze rings encircle the column shafts at their junction with the capitals and bases, and elsewhere.

Exedrae

Column with arch

Interior

PLAN:-

S. MARK VENICE :-• S. Mark, Venice , was erected, for the most part, between A.D. 1063-1071, the columns and marble mosaics to the exterior being added between 1100-1350.• The plan of S. Mark is in the form of a Greek cross, of equal arms, covered by a dome in the centre (42 feet in diameter), and one over each arm of the cross, and is deriyed from the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople. • The square piers, which carry the dome, are pierced on the ground floor and gallery levels : the gallery arcade connects the piers on either side, the depth of the gallery being that of the pier. The vestibules fill out the western arm of the cross to a square on plan.• The interior is richly veneered with colored marbles casing the lower part of the walls ; above, and extending in one great surface over vault and dome, is a lining of richly colored glass mosaic, in which are worked figures of saints mingled with scenes from their lives, set off by a broad background of gold.• Mosaic, in fact, is the real and essential decoration of the church, to which all architectural detail is subordinated

• The external facade has five entrances, enriched with shafts of many-colored marbles brought from Alexandria and the ruined cities of the East, forming a rich and beautiful portal. Mosaic panels also serve to enrich with color the spandrels of the arches. It must be remembered that this and the external domes are a later casing upon the original exterior of the usual Byzantine type.• The interior of St Mark’s Basilica is laid down in the Greek cross design and a central nave is added with the side aisle at each arm. The interior is even more magnificent and worth watching as compared to the outside decoration. It is adorned with spectacular marble floors and about 8000 square meters if mosaics decorate the walls of the church. The canopy of the church is known is the Pala D’Oro which means the Golden Pall in local language. It is called so because it has the panels that are garlanded with gold and gems.

• The church has the length of 76.50 meters (251.1 ft) and has the width of 62.50 meters (aka 205.1 ft). it is adorned with 5 domes whose height is 43 meters (141 ft) [outer] and 28.15 meters (92.4 ft) [inner]. It was completed in 1093 and bears the byzantine and gothic architectural styles. The architects that helped in the designing are the Domenico and Contarini.