Paradox

• a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Hagia Sophia is a paradox…

• square and round• It was a church and a mosque• Represents Rome and Jerusalem

Why Square?

• Basilica - a large and important church that has been given special ceremonial rites by the Pope

Why Round?

• Idea of the dome represents Rome

• Circles are infinite…

• Maybe it is a halo…

Church…

• In 532…a few days after the destruction

of the second basilica, Emperor Justinian I built Hagia Sophia, larger and more majestic than its predecessors.

Withstood earthquakes and stood for 1000 years

Mosque…

1453 Sultan Mehmed laid siege to Constantinople

- Pillaged for 3 days…

- Hagia Sophia- Valuable items- Refuge place- Converted to Mosque

Hagia Sophia

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/howstuffworks/40471-the-coolest-stuff-on-the-planet-hagia-sophia-video.htm

Now it’s a museum…

How does this mosaic symbolize the Byzantine Empire?