{"id":263664,"date":"2025-05-30T07:11:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T07:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/experts-think-the-hagia-sophia-is-in-danger-theyve-got-a-plan-to-protect-it-from-earthquakes\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T07:11:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T07:11:26","slug":"experts-think-the-hagia-sophia-is-in-danger-theyve-got-a-plan-to-protect-it-from-earthquakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=263664","title":{"rendered":"Experts Think the Hagia Sophia Is in Danger. They’ve Got a Plan to Protect It From Earthquakes"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Turkey is located near two fault lines, leaving the 1,500-year-old structure vulnerable to damage. Architects and engineers will be investigating how to best preserve it<\/h2>\n
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\n \"Sonja\n <\/div>\n
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Sonja Anderson<\/a><\/p>\n

– Daily Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

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Experts are concerned about the dome’s structural integrity.
\n A. Savin via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span>
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The Hagia Sophia<\/a> in Istanbul is about to get a makeover. In light of recent earthquakes in Turkey, experts fear the 1,500-year-old mosque is structurally vulnerable, and the Turkish government has ordered a renovation.<\/p>\n

Turkey is located near two\u00a0fault lines<\/a>, making the country especially susceptible to earthquakes. In\u00a02023<\/a>, powerful quakes killed more than 53,000 people in southeastern Turkey. Earlier this year<\/a>, a 6.2-magnitude quake rocked Istanbul, injuring more than 150. Shortly after, architect\u00a0Hasan F\u0131rat Diker<\/a> rushed to the Hagia Sophia to check for damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the most terrifying scenario, an earthquake will shake the entire structure,\u201d Diker tells the\u00a0Guardian<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Ruth Michaelson. \u201cThe main arch connecting the main dome and semi-domes could tremble, and there might be cracks that occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diker is one of the overseers of the Hagia Sophia\u2019s upcoming restoration. As he explains to the Guardian<\/em>, the building\u2019s large central dome is visibly uneven, and it\u2019s supported by four columns of unequal dimensions. The structure\u2019s semi-domes are attached to the main one by fragile joints.<\/p>\n

The history of the Hagia Sophia (which means \u201cHoly Wisdom<\/a>\u201d) stretches back to the year 360, when a Christian church was built in the city of\u00a0Constantinople<\/a> (now Istanbul). <\/strong>The church was damaged in 404, rebuilt several years later and destroyed again in 532.<\/p>\n

Finally,\u00a0Justinian I<\/a>, the leader of the Byzantine Empire, commissioned another rebuild. The grand structure, finished in 537, is the one that remains today. The building has long suffered from natural disasters: Its original dome partially collapsed in an earthquake in 558 and was rebuilt soon after.<\/p>\n

After the Ottoman Empire<\/a> conquered<\/a> Constantinople in 1453, it converted the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Many years later, in\u00a01935<\/a>, the Turkish government declared the structure a museum. It was reclassified<\/a> as a mosque once again in 2020.<\/p>\n

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The Hagia Sofia was constructed in the sixth century.<\/p>\n

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Hagia Sophia\u2019s upcoming refurbishment may be \u201cone of the greatest restorations of the current period in Turkey,\u201d Diker tells the Guardian<\/em>. A team of government-appointed engineers, architects and art historians will begin by stripping a layer of lead that covers the main dome and looking for ways to strengthen the connections between it and the semi-domes. They\u2019ll also look for ways to improve the main pillars and subterranean supports.<\/p>\n

Diker adds that the structure has been repaired on several occasions over its long history, causing \u201clayers of buildup on the dome\u2019s surface.\u201d Once workers remove the dome\u2019s lead covering, they\u2019ll know more about the condition of interior layers.<\/p>\n

The project will \u201copen an important page in the book of Hagia Sophia,\u201d Asnu Bilban Yalcin<\/a>, a Byzantine art historian at Istanbul University, tells\u00a0Reuters<\/a>\u2019 Ali Kucukgocmen. \u201cIt is truly a structure full of surprises because sometimes things develop in a way we do not expect. That is, you design and plan it, but when you open it, things may develop differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Workers will install a tower crane on the building\u2019s eastern facade, as Mehmet Selim Okten<\/a>, an engineer at Mimar Sinan University who\u2019s also overseeing the project, tells the\u00a0Associated Press<\/a>\u2019 Robert Badendieck and Mehmet Guzel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we will cover the top of this unique structure with a protective frame system,\u201d he adds. \u201cThat way, we can work more safely and examine the building\u2019s layers academically, including damage it suffered from fires and earthquakes in the 10th and 14th centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interior scaffolding will allow tourists and worshippers to continue visiting the mosque as usual, and a special exterior cover will protect the dome\u2019s exposed surface from heat and rain. Experts are also hoping that the work may reveal older murals from previous periods in the Hagia Sophia\u2019s layered history.<\/p>\n

\u201cHagia Sophia is amazing. It\u2019s one of the world\u2019s most important monuments,\u201d\u00a0Rupert Wegerif<\/a>, an education scholar at the University of Cambridge, tells the AP. \u201cIt seems really important that they are going to strengthen it in case of earthquakes and preserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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