Istanbul: Hagia Sophia of Istanbul is no stranger to the city’s architectural jewelry for centuries, from churches to mosques to museums, back to mosques.
However, the latest renovation aims to restore the wonders of the 1,488-year-old gem and also aims to ensure it survives the next earthquake that raids the ancient city.
From a distance, its dome, glittering rocks and exquisite minarets seem to focus on Istanbul as centuries.
However, as visitors get closer, they see scaffolding covering its eastern facade and one of the minarets.
“Of course, the renovation will destroy the atmosphere outside” and “scaffolding eliminates the aesthetics of the monument…must be renovated.”
Hagia Sophia is a World Heritage Site and the most popular landmark in Turkiye, “continuously encountering problems”, Hasan Firat Diker AFP.
That’s why it has undergone many pieces of reconstruction over the centuries, he added.
“Global” makeover
The current makeover is the first “global restoration” of the site, he said, including domes, walls and minarets.
When it was first completed in 537 AD, in the same location where the former church stood, Hagia Sophia was called a shining example of Byzantine Empire architecture, which ruled the city known as Constantinople at the time.
It remained a church until the city that became a mosque fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.
In 1935, Mustafa Ataturk, the founder of Modern Turkey, forced the country to reshape the buildings into museums.
This continued until 2020, when Muslim practice Muslim President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in charge of the Islamic Foundation Party, restored it to the mosque.
The next big earthquake
Like the inhabitants of this historic city, Hagia Sophia has to not only be with the whims of the rulers—it faces the ongoing danger of earthquakes that often hit the metropolis, the last major megama of 1999.
Like many buildings in 16 million cities, just a few kilometers away from the active seismic fault line, Hagia Sophia does not meet building seismic standards.
Its dome collapsed in the 558 earthquake, and other earthquakes have been damaged since then.
Therefore, the main goal of the ongoing recovery is to “strengthen the buildings to resist the next major earthquake to make the ancient structure “live with minimal damage,” said Ahmet Gulec, a member of the scientific committee, a member of the work, who said the work’s scientific committee.
Currently, experts are studying the dome to determine how best to enhance and restore it, Dick said.
The interior can now get rid of any scaffolding. But four huge pillars will eventually be built inside to support a platform from where experts can restore the paintings and mosaics of the dome.
“Once you’re inside… it’s perfect.” Ana Delgado, a 49-year-old tourist from Mexico, was amazed, and then the buzz of prayers, laughter, conversation and action filled the building in the afternoon.
“It’s magic,” said Elias Erduran, a friend from the Dominican Republic, in a mess.
Millions of visitors
Last year, Hagia Sophia saw 7.7 million visitors pour into its spacious interior.
About 2.1 million of these are foreign tourists, many of whom pay 25 euros for admission, generating millions of euros each year.
Officials hope the internal pillars will not stop tourists from coming at work and are expected to last for several years. Officials did not say the expected cost of renovation.
“The purpose is to continue visiting and praying in the work,” Goulek said.
And, even if some tourists are disappointed that they don’t witness all the glory of the building, it’s important that “one day my kids will be able to appreciate Hagia Sophia,” said Yana Galitskaya, a 35-year-old Russian tourist.
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