Hagia Sophia's Architects: Anthemius and Isidore's Eternal Dome

This episode dives into the story behind Hagia Sophia's magnificent dome—not just as a building, but as a mathematical and engineering marvel. We explore how the Byzantine emperor Justinian set out to build a church unlike any other after the Nika Revolt of 532. His chosen architects, Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, were renowned mathematicians and physicists who applied geometry and stress calculations to support a dome over a square base—a first in history. We walk through the daring construction, the initial completion in 537, the devastating earthquake of 557 that caused the first dome to collapse, and the redesign by Isidore the Younger that created the still-standing profile. The episode also touches on Ottoman-era additions like minarets and calligraphic medallions, and ends with the building's transformation into a museum and later a mosque. A detailed look at how one dome changed architecture forever.

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