The Hagia Sophia is perhaps the most beautiful building in the world, a masterpiece of Roman architecture and genius. Rebuilt some times, the current building was ordered by Justinian the Great, who would reconquer a short lived new Roman Empire. The Church itself contains an iconostasis, and the Church is the religious center for Orthodox Christianity. Though the Church, like many large buildings, suffered damage from fire, earthquakes and men, it still stands today, majestic as ever. Mosaics and relics make this building one of the holiest places on earth to Christianity, and the Byzantines must guard the Church, lest it be desecrated and turned into a Mosque….
聖索非亞大教堂的特別之處在於平面採用了希臘式十字架的造型,在空間上,則創造了巨型的圓頂,而且在室內沒有用到柱子來支撐。更仔細的說,君士坦丁大帝請來的數學工程師們發明出以拱門、扶壁、小圓頂等設計來支撐和分擔穹隆重量的建築方式,以便在窗間壁上安置又高又圓的圓頂,讓人仰望天界的美好與神聖。由於地震和叛亂的燒燬,聖索非亞大教堂經歷過數次重修,尤其查士丁尼大帝投入一萬名工人、三十二萬黃金、並花費六年光陰將聖索非亞大教堂裝飾得更為精巧華美。神聖的教堂是當時的城市中心,而統治者對教堂所投注的心力不難看出統治者藉由對宗教的奉獻、誇示帝國的權力與財富,而對周遭地區施與影響力的用心。 |