- PPP: A Second Look at Hagia Sophia .

The building:

• On MAY 7^TH, 588, the dome collapsed on the alter, the ambom, and the ciborium
• Collapsing on the alter foreshadowed the collapsing of the Catholic presence in Constantinople
• The dome was elevated by 6.25 meters when rebuilt
• First Muslim to pray in Hagia Sophia would goto paradise
• Similar to crawling under the wooden pillar in Todaiji Temple in Japan
• The original church was rumored to be destroyed by Constantinus II, because it was too small
• Destroyed by riots in January 532 and rebuilt bigger and more prestigious by 537
•  Sultan Mehmet II overtook the church and converted it into a mosque, where he centerd his empire
• Constructed primarily of spolia:
• columns, stones, and fragments ect. from conquered nations