The Byzantine cathedral of Hagia Sophia has been a source of wonder and
fascination since its sixth-century construction. It was the premier
monument of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, and remains one of
the most recognizable symbols of modern Istanbul. Often seen as
encapsulating Byzantine history and culture, the building has been the
subject of much scholarly interest since the Renaissance. However, while
almost all previous archaeological work has focussed on the church
itself, the surrounding complex of ecclesiastical buildings has been
largely neglected. The research project presented here (co-directed by
the authors) is the first to focus on the archaeology of the immediate
environs of the church in order to understand the complex as a whole.
Previously unrecorded material includes parts of the Patriarchal
complex, from which the Orthodox Church was governed for almost a
millennium, what may be the 'Great Baptistery' north of the church, and
what are perhaps the first fragments of the fourth-century phase of the
cathedral yet identified. The discovery of an unrecognized porch,
surviving to its full height within the standing building, changes the
known plan of the famous sixth-century church. This new information
provides fresh evidence about the appearance and function of the
complex, illustrating its similarities to, and dissimilarities from,
Episcopal centers elsewhere in the Byzantine world. Combined with other
archaeological sources, these discoveries enable us to place the
sixth-century cathedral in its urban context and to reconsider what
Hagia Sophia can tell us about the wider Byzantine world.
