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 Sophias 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 bounded
by 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.

 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.

LONGITUDINAL SECTION:-

 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
Interior
Column with arch

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 Marks 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 DOro 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.