Hagia Sophia ( 'the

Holy Wisdom Holy Wisdom (Greek: , la, Sancta Sapientia, russian: Святая София Премудрость Божия, translit=Svyataya Sofiya Premudrost' Bozhiya "Holy Sophia, Divine Wisdom") is a concept in Christian theology. Christian theology ...

'; ; ) in

İznik İznik is a town and an administrative district in the Province of Bursa, Turkey. It was historically known as Nicaea ( el, Νίκαια, ''Níkaia''), from which its modern name also derives. The town lies in a fertile basin at the eastern end ...

(

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and s ...

) in

Bursa Province Bursa Province ( tr, ) is a province in Turkey along the Sea of Marmara coast in northwestern Anatolia. It borders Balıkesir to the west, Kütahya to the south, Bilecik and Sakarya to the east, Kocaeli to the northeast and Yalova to the ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, was built as a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

-era basilican church. Converted into the Orhan Mosque ( Turkish: ''Orhan Camii'') after the Ottoman conquest, it was turned into a museum in 1935. The church is now once again in service as a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

. It is in the town centre of İznik, within the old walled area.

History

The first church built on the site was constructed in the 4th century. It was here that the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effort ...

was held in 325 A.D. The church was later rebuilt under the patronage of Emperor Justinian I in the mid-6th century. In 787, it hosted the

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by the Old Catholics, the Anglican Communion, an ...

, which officially ended the first period of

Byzantine Iconoclasm The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial a ...

. The Justinian-era church was destroyed by an earthquake in the 11th century and the present structure was erected around 1065 over the ruins of the older one. The Church of Hagia Sophia was converted into the Orhan Mosque following the fall of Nicaea to the Ottoman Turks led by Orhan Ghazi in 1331. It continued to operate as a mosque until 1935, when it was designated as a museum under the regime of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In November 2011 it was again converted into a mosque.

Architecture

The current basilican structure, much of which dates to the 1065 reconstruction of the church, consists of a central

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with two side aisles. Prior to its remodelling under the Ottomans, the church had two rows of triple arcades on columns that carried a clerestory wall with five windows. Following the building's conversion to a mosque in the 14th century, it underwent renovations that included the addition of a mihrab. During the 16th-century reign of

Süleyman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ� ...

, the church was restored after a disastrous fire and a minaret was constructed. The architect

Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan ( ota, معمار سينان, translit=Mi'mâr Sinân, , ) ( 1488–1490 – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman architect ( tr, l ...

was also commissioned around this time to design decorations to adorn the walls of the mosque. The restoration (or rebuilding) of such a historic church so that it could be reused as a mosque was - and remains - very controversial. The work was carried out between 2007 and 2011.

Gallery

File:Iznik Hagia Sophia Mosque 8350.jpg, Front of Hagia Sophia in İznik File:Iznik Hagia Sophia Mosque 8061.jpg, Exterior of Hagia Sophia in İznik File:Iznik Hagia Sophia Mosque 8066.jpg, Opus sectile floor in entrance of Hagia Sophia in İznik File:Iznik Hagia Sophia Mosque 8067.jpg, Interior of Hagia Sophia in Iznik File:Iznik Hagia Sophia Mosque 8083.jpg, Synthronon in choir area of Hagia Sophia in İznik File:Iznik Hagia Sophia Mosque 8100.jpg, View of secondary dome in Hagia Sophia in İznik File:Iznik Hagia Sophia fresco 045.jpg, Fresco in Hagia Sophia in İznik

References

Mosques in Turkey Buildings of Justinian I Byzantine church buildings in Turkey Mosques converted from churches in the Ottoman Empire İznik 6th-century churches Buildings and structures in Bursa Province Mosques converted from churches in Turkey {{Byzantine-stub

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References