Hagia Sophia Dome Diameter

Many consider hagia sophia the supreme masterpiece of byzantine architecture.

Hagia sophia dome diameter. But it was the dome that made hagia sophia the most complex building of antiquity. The dome seems rendered weightless by the unbroken arcade of arched windows under it which help flood the colorful interior with light. The dome is 31 7 meter in diameter and 55 6 meter high from floor level. Hagia sophia is covered by a central dome with a diameter of 31 meters 102 feet slightly smaller than the pantheon s.

It s supported by the arches between piers called pendentives which were unique at those times. The building was revolutionary for setting a round dome elegantly on a square structure using curved triangular forms called pendentives to bridge these dissimilar shapes. 269 feet long 240 feet wide. The main building material for the hagia sophia composed of brick and mortar.

Hagia sophia dome sits at the centre of the church. It is between two half domes which together equals to the diameters of the dome. It remained the largest cathedral in the world for almost 1 000 years. The great dome at the hagia sophia is one hundred and seven feet in diameter and is only two feet thick.

The sunlight which floats all around the church and shines upon the gilded mosaics enters mostly from the forty windows encircling the base of the dome. Brick aggregate was used to make roofs easier to construct. The shallow dome was made from 40 equally spaced ribs. A lofty central dome 102 feet in diameter and 184 feet in height spans its spacious nave.

That dome sits on pendentives or supporting arches at the corners of a square that make the transition to a circular plan possible. Because of the several repairs and constructions in time the dome lost its circular shape and the diameter became 31 24 mt 102 ft 6 in to 30 86 mt 101 ft 3in. The cupola of the dome soars 180 feet above the main floor.