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Hagie Sophia was built at the command of the emperor Justinian I with the specific aim of outstanding all other religious buildings. It was very much bigger than any church in Rome and remained for many centuries by far the largest church in Christendom.

The two architects of Hagie Sophia, scientists and mathematicians Anthemios and Isidorus, had the courage as well as the inventive genius to design a structure of unprecedented form. The plan was surprisingly simple: a large rectangle enclosing a square space, at the corners of which there were huge piers to carry the dome. It looks as if halves of the church with a central octagon had been pulled apart and a doomed area placed between them.

The exterior of Hagie Sophia is the product of a long succession of expedients to buttress the dome rather than of architectural design.

The interior was enriched with a skin of coloured marbles, porphyry, and other stones, while the vaults and the domes were covered with the mosaics that were such a glorious feature of Byzantine churches.

Hagie Sophia, built on a high ridge, crowned the city of Constantinople and its dome could be seen from far away. It was the church of the imperial court, not for common worship, but a setting for rituals of great complexity.

Agree or disagree:

1. Hagie Sophia was built much bigger than any other churches because the population of Constantinople was numerous.

2. The construction of the temple really demanded unique genius of mind for it had unprecedented form.

3. The exterior of Hagie Sophia was paid considerable attention.

4. Hagie Sophia was firstly a church of an imperial court that is why it was richly decorated with mosaics.

5. People could come to Hagie Sophia for common worship.