The Hagia Sophia and The Notre Dame de Paris
The Hagia Sophia is a beautiful and important monument of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. This magnificent architectural structure once served as a church, then served as a mosque, and now is an amazing museum at the Turkish Republic. The Hagia Sophia has always been considered a jewel of its time and is home to many. The mystical city Istanbul hosted many civilizations and religions over the centuries, and the Byzantium and Ottoman Empires were two of the most famous ones. Today, the city play host to this main tourist attraction, which carries the characteristics of both the Byzantium and Ottoman cultures and surely Hagia Sophia is a perfect synthesis where one can observe both effects under one great dome.
The Norte Dame de Paris
The Notre Dame Cathedral Paris or Notre Dame de Paris which means, “Our Lady of Paris” in French, is a cathedral of the Catholic archdiocese of Paris. It is a monument is located on the eastern side of Île de la Cité, with its main entrance to the west. Located in Paris, France, it a major tourist attraction that holds the official chair – “cathedra”, of the Archbishop of Paris. Notre Dame de Paris is considered one of the best examples of French Gothic architecture in the world and was saved from destruction by one of France’s most famous architects – Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. The cathedral was one of the first buildings in the world to develop higher and higher walls, which required extra arch supports to prevent them from collapsing due to stress fractures.
History of The Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is the most significant piece of architecture and landmark in
Constantinople, now known as Istanbul. It is one of the greatest pieces of architecture that represents the Byzantium culture and faith. Hagia Sophia was first built around 360 BC by Emperor Constantius, son of Emperor Constantinos. It was the largest church in
Constantinople until it was destroyed in 404 AD during riots. A new church was quickly built 11 years later and this church was built to be a basilica and was bigger than the first
Hagia Sophia. Unfortunately this too was destroyed in 532 AD during the Nika revolt, which was said to be the most violent attack Constantinople has had. After the riot, Justinian, Emperor at the time demanded that a new and everlasting church be replaced in the name of Hagia Sophia place. Emperor Justinian was going to make sure that this Hagia Sophia was going to be the most extravagant and elaborate church anyone had ever seen which is exactly what he did. By hiring state of the art mathematicians and architectures, the most significant architecture of The Byzantine’s was built and is still standing today to tell the great history of the Byzantium.

When Emperor Justinian I rebuilt Hagia Sophia between 532 and 537 CE, it was built with the grandeur to make a statement to the world; Christianity trumps paganism. To Justinian, the Great Church of Holy Wisdom “symbolized the place of the empire in the divine scheme of things” and it had to be rebuilt with great splendor. This was so important that Justinian spent almost the entire treasury on its reconstruction. He wanted the Church to stand as a “symbol of glory for the Byzantine Empire and the largest Church of Christendom in the world.” A Church that would be the greatest building erected to “the Glory of God,” even surpassing King Solomon.
May 29, 1453 CE, the Ottomans conquered Constantinople under Sultan Mehmet II. His first official act was to convert the Church of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. It stood as the principal mosque of Istanbul for five hundred years and became the model for many of the Ottoman Mosques built after the conquest. He wanted to perform an act that would be a “symbolic refounding of the city” and would establish himself as a great and powerful Byzantine leader, like Constantine and Justinian. Mehmet even tried to mimic Alexander the Great and took great pains to compare symbolic acts in his history of conquest. While the building itself made a statement of grandeur, the material used in constructing Justinian’s Church made an assertion of Christian dominance over paganism and political legitimization. Remnants from temples, columns, and stone were used from all over the empire. Columns were even imported from Rome, which became a visual affirmation of political legitimacy with the Empire. Spolia and pillars of ancient temples were also incorporated into the walls of the structure.
Ascetic changes made and additions of furnishings and rugs helped give the appearance of a mosque, however, in order for it to become a royal mosque, some event had to occur in the past that associated the structure with the Prophet of Islam. Ottoman legend was created from historical texts that interwove historical facts and myths to satisfy this requirement. Two such legends exist.
The first legend is about the half-dome of the apse. It is said that this collapsed on the night of the Prophet Mohammed’s birth and it could only be rebuilt from the sand of Mecca, water from the well of Zamzam and saliva from the prophet’s mouth. The second legend attempted to strip Christian associations from the building of this structure by stating that the building was constructed from spolia of Solomon’s Temple on a site originally sanctified by him. The final element to establish Hagia Sophia as a mosque was the handing over of the relic, the gold cased tibia and occiptal bones of John the Baptist, to the Empire (Image Below). John the Baptist, a sacred prophet of Islam, validated Islam over Christianity in the Empire and helped to reinforce the proper conversion of Hagia Sophia as a Mosque; a grand mosque that stood for almost five hundred years.
With the rise of secularism in Turkey, in 1935, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern-day Turkey, made a symbolic statement by making Hagia Sophia a museum and restoring the Christian Murals that stood side-by-side with the Koranic. The existence of the mosaics were known, thanks to the records the Fossati brothers who discovered them when recording and cleaning. Plaster stayed over the mosaics for quite sometimes and the building was allowed to stand is disrepair.

References
"Hagia Sophia." Hagia Sophia. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2015.
"Notre Dame Cathedral Paris." Notre Dame Cathedral Paris. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2015.
"Hagia Sophia: Political and Religious Symbolism in Stones and Spolia."Popular Archaeology RSS 20. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2015.