The main dome of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul is to undergo the most extensive restoration in its 1,488-year history.
One of the main aims of the work is to make the building better able to resist earthquakes. And one of the main challenges will be to carry out the renovation without interrupting worship at the mosque.
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Türkiye’s culture and tourism minister, said the dome’s exterior would be temporarily covered with steel to protect against the weather and shield the interior mosaics. Lead coatings would be removed and repaired.
A 43.5m-tall steel platform will be built across four columns to allow workers to access the dome.
The Hagia Sophia – Saint Sophia – was built as a Christian church by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to a design by two of the best known architects of antiquity, Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus.
Over the centuries seismic activity has caused three partial collapses – the first occurring only 51 years after its completion in 537AD.
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