Josh Astor

Review of Santa Sofía

Staggering. Built by the Eastern Roman Emperor Jus...

Staggering. Built by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, it was the largest church in Christendom and where most Emperors were subsequently crowned. Later in 1453, after the fall of Constantinople, it was turned into a mosque, and finally secularised into a museum in 1935. As a result it's a mixture of Christian and Islamic iconography.

The dome rises to around 250 feet. Just going up halfway to the gallery and looking down gives you vertigo. The eyes of Jesus Christ on a mosaic in a chapel behind the gallery are cleverly rendered so that they appear to follow you wherever you go.