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🎨 The arts πŸ›οΈ Famous buildings

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

πŸ“– In short

Hagia Sophia is a magnificent building in Istanbul, Turkey, and one of the most wonderful in the world. It was built about 1500 years ago as a great church, then became a mosque after the Ottomans took the city, then a museum, and then a mosque again.

🀩 Did you know?

  • The great dome rises 56 meters above the ground and is about 33 meters across.
  • Hagia Sophia was built between 532 and 537.
  • The building is about 76 meters long.
  • Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world for about a thousand years.

πŸ”Ž Find out more

🌟 A dome hanging in the sky

The most famous part of Hagia Sophia is its huge dome. Around its base is a row of windows, so light comes in underneath and it seems to float in the air!

πŸ” Built quickly

Hagia Sophia was built in only about five years by thousands of workers. Then its first dome fell in an earthquake, and a new, higher one was built.

πŸ’‘ Mosaics and minarets

Inside are beautiful pictures in gold mosaic, made of small colored pieces of stone and glass. The Ottomans added four tall minarets and big panels of Arabic calligraphy.

🎯 A model for builders

Architects greatly admired Hagia Sophia and learned from it, and the Ottoman architect Sinan built great mosques with wonderful domes inspired by it.

πŸ“Έ More pictures

Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia

🧩 Test yourself

1 Which city is Hagia Sophia in?

2 What is the most famous part of Hagia Sophia?

3 The building is about ?? meters long.

4 Which picture shows β€œHagia Sophia”?

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πŸ“· Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons