Hagia Sophia in the Long Nineteenth Century
Edited by Emily Neumeier, Benjamin Anderson
- Examines the "biography" of a single monument from multiple points of view
- Nine chapters present a variety of methodological approaches drawn from the fields of history and art history
- Emphasis on local or non-traditional discourses in the Ottoman Empire and beyond
- Considers the physical changes to the structure, decoration and surroundings of Hagia Sophia
- Opens new avenues of research for readers interested in alternative accounts of modernity
Hagia Sophia—a building whose domes have defined Istanbul’s skyline for over 1500 years—has led many lives. Initially a church, subsequently a mosque, then a museum, the structure is today a monument of world heritage, even as its official status remains contested. Hagia Sophia’s global fame took shape during the long nineteenth century, when Europeans "discovered" its architectural significance. But what role did local actors play in the creation of Hagia Sophia as a modern monument?
List of FiguresNote on Contributors A Note on Translation and TransliterationAcknowledgments
Introduction: Writing the Modern Biography of an Ancient MonumentEmily Neumeier and Benjamin Anderson
1. Hagia Sophia’s Second Conversion: The Building Campaign of Mahmud I and the Transformation from Mosque to Complex (1739-43)Ünver Rüstem
2. The Paradoxes of Hagia Sophia’s Ablution Fountain: The Qasida al-Burda in Cosmopolitan IstanbulTülay Artan
3. The Calligraphic Arts in the Age of Ottoman Architectural RenovationEmily Neumeier
4. From the Mouth of Angels: Folkloric Hagia SophiaBenjamin Anderson
5. The Other Ayasofya: The Restoration of Salonica’s Ayasofya Mosque, 1890-1911Sotirios Dimitriadis
6. 'That Domed Feeling': A Byzantine Synagogue in ClevelandRobert S. Nelson
7. The Monument of the Present: The Fossati Restoration of Hagia Sophia (1847-9)Asli Menevse
8. From Ceremony to Spectacle: Changing Perceptions of Hagia Sophia through the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr) Prayer CeremoniesAyşe Hilâl Uğurlu
9. Temple of the World’s Desire: Hagia Sophia in the American Press, c. 1910-1927Robert Ousterhout
Index
A church for a millennium, a mosque for five centuries and a museum for ninety years, the Hagia Sophia has still much to reveal to those who wish to look beyond its current polemical context. This excellent collective volume offers such an opportunity, with a focus on a still understudied period of the monument’s recent history
