The Roman and Byzantine empires are widely regarded as two of the most powerful empires in human history. With large religious empires comes large extravagant architecture. The Pantheon, a temple created for the worship of the many Roman Gods was built by the emperor Hadrian in Rome from 118 to 125 CE. The Hagia Sophia was built by the emperor Justinian as a Christian church in Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire from 532 to 537 CE. The Hagia Sophia was designed by Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician, and Isidorus of Miletus, a physicist.
It’s important to note that the minarets on the Hagia Sophia were added later by the Turks to transform the church into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453 CE. Both of these structures are considered by many to be some of the most impressive pieces of architecture from the early part of the common era. While there are many similarities in the building plans of the Pantheon and the Hagia Sophia, each building is built using different architectural techniques and they each have a different way of illuminating the interiors.
Both the Pantheon and the Hagia Sophia are built with a central plan, meaning that the parts of the church are equal or almost equal in dimensions around the circle. The Pantheon, while being a central plan church, has a typical porch of a Roman church and an intermediate block transitioning from the porch to the cella. There was a large forecourt leading up to the Pantheon, which gave patrons a frontal view of the building. From the forecourt, patrons would climb a set of stairs up onto a podium where the temple rests.
The interior or the Pantheon also has niches around the circumference of the interior for Romans to worship each of their respective Gods. The Hagia Sophia is a built as a divided central plan bisected by a real central plan. The nave of the Hagia Sophia is an oval because of this odd combination plan and to show off the amazing dome above the nave. The Hagia Sophia also has a double narthex, which is quite similar to the porch in the Pantheon, except that it is entirely on the inside of the building and because it is a double narthex, it’s extra long.
Unlike the Pantheon, the Hagia Sophia was meant to hold large religious services in. Because of this, there is a very clearly defined side aisle and nave. By far the most noticeable part of both the Pantheon and the Hag ia Sophia are their domes. However, the domes are both built and supported in drastically different ways. The Pantheon relies on careful Roman engineering to support its dome, while the Hagia Sophia depends on pendentives to support its dome. The Pantheon’s dome was constructed out of concrete, which becomes pumice near the top of the dome.
The Pantheon also has a coffered ceiling, which removes a large amount of material which would have to be supported. The outside appearance of the Pantheon looks quite like a drum because the dome is essentially a sphere which is supported by a cylindrical structure that, from the outside, appears like a drum. As well as the use of smart materials and the buttresses, the dome of the Parthenon is supported by an arched corridor that meets the dome at a 90 degree angle, helping to support the immense weight.
The Hagia Sophia, on the other hand is built of solid concrete and relies on pendentives. Essentially the main dome of the Hagia Sophia sits on top of a smaller dome. Pendentives take the weight of the dome and redistribute it to four piers that are rounded as if there were another dome resting on ground level. The top and four sides of the dome that would rest on the ground are eliminated to create the four rounded, triangular piers that support the weight of the dome. There are also triangles and smaller domes around the main dome to help buttress the main dome.
Again the use of incredibly strong domes and triangles allows for the Hagia Sophia to be built much larger (40 feet taller than the Pantheon). Because arches are so strong and a dome is essentially 360 degrees of arches, the use of a dome underneath the main dome to support the weight is an ingenious way of supporting the weight of the dome. One of the most notable features of the Pantheon is the oculus at the top of the dome, 140 feet off the ground. The oculus lets light into the interior of the Pantheon, a space which otherwise, due to the material covering the interior and the visual weight of the dome, would be entirely dark.
Because of the oculus, natural light floods the Pantheon and reflects off of the highly polished marble. This creates the illusion of light that would otherwise be non-existent in the Pantheon. The Hagia Sophia relies on a clerestory at the base of its dome to let in natural light. Unlike the Pantheon whose interior is covered in polished marble, the interior of the Hagia Sophia is covered in gold backed glass tesserae. The glass tesserae alone would reflect large amounts of light that would moderately light the interior of the Hagia Sophia.
Once the gold leaf is added behind the glass tesserae, the amount of light reflected is amplified. This creates a sort of ethereal atmosphere, taking those within the Hagia Sophia to a different realm, one where everyone is surrounded in gold and light. Because the clerestory underneath the dome goes around the bottom of the dome completely, much more light is let into the Hagia Sophia than into the Pantheon. With the combination of the extra light and the gold leaf backed tesserae, there is astrono af backed tesserae, there is astronomically more light in the Hagia Sophia than in the Pantheon.
The Pantheon and the Hagia Sophia are two of the most beautiful pieces of ancient architecture. While they each have similar building plans, they each have different ways of supporting their magnificent domes and different ways of illuminating the interior of the buildings. Each building is built using the general idea of a central plan and each has a porch or, similarly, a narthex. Unlike the Hagia Sophia, the Pantheon uses a combination of smart use of material and is supported by a drum around the theoretical sphere of which the dome is the op half of.
The Hagia Sophia utilizes pendentives and smaller buttressing domes. In each of these structures, the mode of lighting is an incredibly important part of the character of the buildings. Gold backed glass tesserae are used in the Hagia Sophia to create an otherworldly, almost heavenly feel by reflecting light from the 40 windows in the clerestory of the dome. An oculus in the top of the Pantheon provides natural light that reflects off of the polished colored marble on the interior of the building.
These two buildings, while visually similar, are incredibly different in the feeling that patrons feel. The Pantheon amazes visitors with the incredible openness of the space, which compared to other buildings from the Roman empire was quite shocking. The Hagia Sophia, moreover, wows visitors with the amount of light that pours into the building and reflects off of the tesserae, bringing visitors into an almost heavenly sphere. These two pieces of architecture are truly two of the most impressive buildings still existing in the world today.
