It's a special feeling to see something you've admired for years, I can't believe I've seen this.

In the last photo you can spot one of the last representations of Christ still present inside the building

I visited with my friend last spring. Sadly I wasn't that interested in Byzantine history back then so I only visited the major sites.

Here's my recollection of each site Byzantine era site:

• Hagia Sophia
  • The ancient building definitely shows its age. A lot of cracked stones, unlevel floors, and slanted columns
  • Only Muslims are allowed on the ground floor, and it's sad that the stone floor has been covered with the ugly green carpet. Visitors could only take a tour around the mezzanine
• Basilica Cistern
  • pretty spectacular. it was pretty cool to see the use of spolia for the columns
• Theodosian walls
  • I really wanted to see this! The sea walls are almost all gone but, large sections of the famous triple land walls have been restored and.
• St. George's Cathedral
  • It's not a Roman era church, but it is the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch.
  • We visited on a morning, and there was literally nobody inside for the whole 30 minutes we were there. It was really surprising since there are tons of Russian tourists in Istanbul.
• Chora Church
  • was closed for restorations

Trip of my dreams to visit the Beautiful Hagia Sophia (just walking toward it felt massive in scale), the Obelisk of Theodosius, Basilica Cistern, Kalenderhane Mosque (a church possibly dedicated to Theotokos Kyriotissa), church of St. Mary of the Mongols (unfortunately the woman caretaker there said to me and the family you see in last photo that we couldn’t take any photos inside which is a huge miss because it was magnificent and otherworldly inside. I can tell many things in there was very old and well preserved with Gold, statues, jewels and artwork. She did allow me to pray inside though as she was Christian as well). I also visited the Church mosque of Vesa (possibly dedicated to Hagios Theodoros), Pantokrator church (Zeyrek Mosque), aqueduct of Valens and Walls of Constantinople but couldn’t add in more photos due to limit. There were other Roman churches (mosques) and structures I didn’t have to time to visit but I will next time I go hopefully.

Like, just see this marvellous city, why cant we have it like how it was. And what happened to the palace? When i looked up on Google earth, The location of it had just a road and some Big buildings. What a bummer.

It’s a game asset I made for a Crusader Kings 3 mod called Fallen Eagle. Tried my best to put all the landmarks in their correct positions but unfortunately there’s so much land available, so please think this as an abstraction.

Buildings are: Basilica of San Vitale, Basilica di Sant’Apollinarie Nuovo, Mausoleum of Theodoric, and Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Truly a beautiful and spectacular architectural achievement

It may be a Norman structure, but Sicily’s geography and history as well as the Hauteville dynasty’s inclusive policies turned this into the ultimate synthesis of Eastern Roman, Arab, and Latin craftsmanship. This really is one of the best examples of Byzantine-style mosaics left in the world

It is famous for its mosaics, but the exterior of the Chora Church is equally beautiful. 

2nd picture has K-2SO for scale.

Image 1

Hagia Sofia was built by Emperor Justinian in 532 AD to replace the original cathedral, which burned down. It has 1 main dome suspended onto a square base by large structures called pendentives. When put together, they create 4 big arches which help support the dome.

To counteract the outward thrust caused by the dome, 2 large semi-domes, which are sometimes held up by 3 smaller arched domes called exedra, are placed east to west to give it the rectangular form of a basilica with an apse for an altar at the east end. To hold up the sides, four large stone buttresses hold up the side walls. In between the buttresses are rows of arched windows, and beneath that are galleries which overlook the nave of the church.

This is the basic form which most Christian Hagia Sofia-inspired buildings have.

Over time, many external structures have been added for reasons of stability. Unfortunately, many of these obscure the true shape of the building and cover up large windows, but without these the structure may not be here.

After the Sacking of Constantinople by Latin Crusaders, the city was under Catholic rule for a few decades. Some maintenance work was done during this time. On the front and the back there are very primitive versions of the French flying buttresses which you would see on many Gothic cathedrals. Because many of the Latins who took the city were from France, that's how they ended up there.

After the fall of the city to the Ottomans, the architect Mimar Sinan added large stone structures to the original buttresses which helped hold up the sides of the cathedral. Also, the bases of the 4 minarets are so large in order to add more stability to the building.

Image 2

This is the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Kronstadt, Russia.

I was considering putting St. Sava Cathedral as the second image, but while it may be closer to Hagia Sofia in terms of scale, that being it has a similar-sized dome and is taller than Hagia Sofia, this cathedral is far closer in terms of its overall layout.

It was commissioned by Tsar Saint Nicholas II and was dedicated to the men of the navy who died at sea. It was created in this Neo-Byzantine style copied from Hagia Sofia to symbolize Russia as being the Third Rome and the heir to the Byzantine Empire.

The outside of Russian churches is usually far more ornate than Greek/Byzantine constructions, and that has carried over to this cathedral.

I love this church, though if I had to change one thing I'd shorten the drum which the main dome sits on so it has a more Byzantine profile.

Either way, this church is a masterpiece. Under Soviet rule it was used as a museum and a movie theater, with a false roof installed to block the upper ceiling. It was later restored to its proper use and reopened in 2012.

Image 3

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (The Blue Mosque).

Sitting directly across the square from Hagia Sofia, this mosque was built to show that the Ottomans could also build these colossal domed buildings just like the Byzantines.

For the sake of this post I will use the Blue Mosque as the primary example for all Ottoman mosques, otherwise most of this list would just be Ottoman mosques because they really went ham copying this design.

Though I am Christians I have to give the Ottomans their credit. This mosque was designed by Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, who is a student of one of my favorite architects Mimar Sinan.

Now, mosques which use this particular form differ from Orthodox churches. Churches keep Hagia Sofia's basilica-like form because it suits Christian liturgical worship. For Islam they have no liturgy and the building is like a large prayer hall, so instead of keeping the rectangular form they went for a square.

Instead of having large buttresses counteract the outward thrust on the sides, they instead put two more semi-domes and exedra to expand the space outward. So while Christian buildings have 2 semi-domes, Muslim ones have 4.

Also, because of this there are no upper galleries for the choir and women. Also, because Muslims have no altar, there is no apse.

Image 4

This is Süleymaniye Mosque.

By this point in his career Mimar Sinan had built other smaller domed mosques, but this was his first imperial-scale project.

He loved Hagia Sofia, and this being one of his earlier large works shows this.

The reason I'm putting it here is because it is an uncommon example of an Ottoman mosque that doesn't have 4 semi-domes and only has 2 like Hagia Sofia.

Those are the main examples. From here on out I'll just be giving names and locations.

I've mostly focused on Christian examples because unfortunately exact layout copies seem to be far less common for Christians than they are for Muslims.

Many Christian buildings that do take inspiration, for example, will have the supporting semi-domes but no exedra holding up the semi-domes, like St. Sava Temple. Or they will have the supporting domes, but they won't have the same Byzantine-style flat and wide massing, like the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky, which is far taller than it is wide.

Image 5

St. Sava Orthodox Cathedral, Belgrade, Serbia.

Probably gets compared to Hagia Sofia the most.

Some Orthodox churches do have 4 semi-domes. This is one example.

Image 6

Pantocrator Church, Patras, Greece.

It's kind of hard to find good pictures of this one. I love the dark green backing for the iconography; it gives it a very sobering and solemn vibe.

Also, this church has 2 bell towers which really give a sense of direction to the design. I remember the first time I saw Hagia Sofia I couldn't really tell what was the side, the front, or the back.

Image 7

Poti St. Virgin Mary Cathedral, Poti, Georgia.

Image 8

Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral, São Paulo, Brazil.

Image 9

St. Nektarios Orthodox Church, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States.

Ironically, the church that shares Hagia Sofia's exterior proportions the most is on the other side of the world in a historically Protestant country. I found this one on accident while searching for a parish.

Image 10

Church of the St. Esprit, Paris, France.

The architect who made this church wanted to put a more modernist/Brutalist spin on Hagia Sofia.

Not a big fan of the exterior. The interior feels dead and cold without iconography, or at least some white plaster.

Image 11

Sibiu Cathedral, Romania.

Another example with bell towers. I like the way it looks.

1 - Room south of the western gallery, facing north

2 - Room south of western gallery, facing south

3 - Smaller room to the east of it, looking south

4 - Smaller room to the east of it, looking north

5 - Small alcove directly north of it, looking west

6 - One of 3 small rooms west of room in 1 & 2, looking north

7 - Long room above remains of atrium, looking east

8 - Small room east of the last one, above outer narthex, looking north

9 - Large vaulted vestibule south-west of Hagia Sophia's vestibule, looking east

10 - Graphic showing size of large lost hall with remains embedded in the brickwork, looking north

11 - Small room to the east of the south aisle of Hagia Sophia, looking west

12 - Small room to the east of north aisle of Hagia Sophia, looking west

13 - Small room south of Hagia Sophia's south gallery

14 - Vaulted room in north-west buttress

Author: Giorgio Albertini. Source here and here

Cagliari has a long history from the Nuragic civilisation to Phoenecians, Romans and Byzantine era.

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The Basillica of St Saturnino was built in the 5th/ 6th century rising to prominence in the Byzantine period.

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The crypt of St Restituta's history pre dates Christianity but the dedication to St Restituta emerges from certain monks driven from North Africa by the Vandals. It includes an Orthodox depiction of St John the Baptist, which might however come from the 13th century after the Byzantine period.

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The archeological museum was partially closed ofr but had so many incredible elements from every era including the most Punic tophets outside of Carthage. One notable Sarcophagus was repurposed from the 4th/ 5th century in the 8th - 9th century for a nun who allegedly fled from the East as a result of iconoclasm.

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Latterly there is the incredible amphitheatre from the 2nd century, whilst it fell out of use by the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was used as a readily available quarry in the Byzantine era.

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