Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey- An architectural marvel of Byzantine Empire

Faculty coordinator:  Prof. Shubhi Sonal, Prof. Neeraja Jayan
Course: History of Architecture
Resource Person: Ar. Vidya Srikanth, Professor, School of Architecture, REVA University

Attended by:

• Students of School of Architecture- 79
• Faculty members of the School of Architecture:  6

School of Architecture, REVA University organized a guest lecture on ‘Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey- An architectural marvel of Byzantine Empire’ by Ar. Vidya Srikanth, on 21^st February, 2019 at AV Room 103, Vivekananda Block. This talk was organized mainly for the 2^nd semester students, as part of their curriculum, where they have to be introduced to the Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture.

Professor Vidya Srikanth divided her presentation into two parts. Firstly, she began her lecture by explaining the architectural characteristics of Hagia Sophia, starting from the geographical advantages of the site location, political and socio-economic conditions and the need for church planning. Some of the important facts in this part of the lecture included the planning principles of Hagia Sophia, were the central crossing becomes an integral part of the church like any other byzantine church, covered with a massive elliptical dome, which has undergone a lot of transformations throughout the years. The mihrab and the central dome overpowers the interiors. Since the church was taken over by the Ottoman Empire during 14^th century, lot of Islamic inscriptions on brass plates, can be seen on the walls of the church. The greater part of the interior of the church was decorated with mosaic tiles.

The second part of the lecture gave insights on Turkey as a tourist destination, which included the breathtaking Kaymakli underground city, the incredible rock-cut cave houses of Cappadocia, Goreme Open air museum which is an UNESCO site, the Straight of Bosporus which divides the Asian and European Istanbul, Dolmabase Place, Blue mosque, Galata tower and the double layered Galata Bridge. Prof. Vidya also explained the about the incredible landscape of Cappadocia. Most of the structures have squinches, pointed or horse-shoe arches, glazed tiles enhanced by typical Moroccan style of interior decoration. The market places of Istanbul are filled with the aroma of spices and garlic.

Ar. Vidya concluded her lecture by showing a series of mouthwatering photos of various indigenous sweets of Istanbul, some which included ‘Kunafe’, Baklava and other Turkish delights. The inspiring presentation by Ar. Vidya Srikanth, created a desire among the staff and students, to visit Istanbul at the earliest.