Hagia Sophia
In this paper I will be writing about the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. It will include the beautiful location, the hardships of the building itself plus more. I will also be trying to identify the purposes from which the Hagia Sophia was created but by looking at it as a piece of art not just as a gigantic church. Then to wrap things up I will go over the architectural design and how artists use the elements and principles to create a piece of work. Istanbul is a remarkable place and actually bridges the continents of Europe and Asia. It is located on the west side of the Bosporus strait, which is responsible for joining the Black sea and the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul, which was once the capital of Turkey is considered …show more content…

There is forty of these following each other around the bottom of the central dome which creates the base and more of them throughout the whole structure. The best part about them is the way the light shines through and between them and lights up the church. I cannot even imagine how beautiful and amazing this looks in person.
As a piece of art another purpose of the Hagia Sophia was to communicate information and worship. When contemplating on whether or not to crown the Hagia Sophia with a dome it was related to the sanctity of the whole building as an earthly analogue to heaven. That itself to me communicates some kind of message of how great this church was meant to be. Justinian created this church of size, light, and space for everyone. Clergies were held in here as well as liturgy of the Eucharist. Christians were the first to use the Hagia Sophia as a church. They believed that the people were the architecture and when you came to pray they understand that it is not by any human power or skill, but by the influence of God. Next Sultan Mehmed came through and converted it into a mosque.
The Hagia Sophia is also an art for day-to-day living as well as visual delight and this could be another reason of purpose. I guess this could relate to the last paragraph on how people could/would go in and worship/pray in this one of a kind church. Also between these two