Hagia Sophia
A dome 31 metres across seems to hang from heaven on a ring of windows.
- When
- Known to
- ± 1 year
- Era
- Post-Classical, Holocene
Completed in 537 CE in under six years, Hagia Sophia solves the problem of setting a circular dome on a square plan using pendentives, and pierces its base with forty windows so the dome appears to float. It was the largest interior space in the world for nearly a thousand years. The first dome collapsed in an earthquake and was rebuilt steeper. It has served as cathedral, mosque, museum and mosque again.