January
05
/ 2021
At one time a cathedral, later a mosque, and now the chief museum of the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sophia, in the ancient Byzantine imperial capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul), was a world-famous architectural monument in both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Located in the heart of Istanbul, a city fusing symbolic and architectural characteristics from these two very different cultures, Hagia Sophia synthesizes both Ottoman and Byzantium religious beliefs under one magnificent dome. Now, a team of British-and-Czech-led researchers have uncovered and mapped the ancient subterranean realms of Hagia Sophia. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"81552","attributes":{"alt":"An archaeologist descending below the main floor of Hagia Sophia to the subterranean realms below. (Beneath The Hagia Sophia)","class":"media-image","style":"width: 610px; height: 504px;","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]] An archaeologist descending below the main floor of
