The Emperor Door Archives » Hagia Sophia https://hagiasophiaturkey.com/tag/the-emperor-door/ All about Hagia Sophia and Byzantine Art & Architecture in Turkey. Wed, 12 Sep 2018 22:36:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://hagiasophiaturkey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/cropped-Hagia-Sophia-Turkey-Research-Team-Website-Icon-32x32.png The Emperor Door Archives » Hagia Sophia https://hagiasophiaturkey.com/tag/the-emperor-door/ 32 32 Emperor Door https://hagiasophiaturkey.com/emperor-door/ https://hagiasophiaturkey.com/emperor-door/#comments Thu, 26 Oct 2017 02:31:05 +0000 http://hagiasophiaturkey.com/?p=875 In Hagia Sophia, three doors of outer narthex which symbolize the Holy Trinity give way to the outer narthex with 5 doors. From there nine gates lead to heart of the church. The largest (7 meter heigh) door is made of oak and has a bronze frame. It is the most magnificent door among the […]

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]]> In Hagia Sophia, three doors of outer narthex which symbolize the Holy Trinity give way to the outer narthex with 5 doors. From there nine gates lead to heart of the church.

The largest (7 meter heigh) door is made of oak and has a bronze frame. It is the most magnificent door among the doors of Hagia Sophia, which were up to 40 in Byzantine times. The Emperor Door is believed to have been made of the woods from Noah’s Ark.

The Emperor Door of Hagia Sophia

Above the door, it’s found a metal box attributed as a coffin. According to legend a Byzantine Empress who was afraid of shakes wanted to be buried in a metal coffin. However, her last will seems to be in vain because of the holes on it. On the coffin, you can see also a relief of a bird on a throne and an open passage from Gospel.

  • Reconstruction Sketch of Emperor Door
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  • Detail view from Emperor Door
  • A stone threshold at Emperor Door
  • A stone threshold at Emperor Door
  • A stone threshold at Emperor Door
  • A stone threshold at Emperor Door
  • Emperor Door

 

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]]> https://hagiasophiaturkey.com/emperor-door/feed/ 1 Mosaic of Leo VI https://hagiasophiaturkey.com/mosaic-leo-vi/ https://hagiasophiaturkey.com/mosaic-leo-vi/#comments Mon, 16 Oct 2017 03:59:08 +0000 http://hagiasophiaturkey.com/?p=704 ocated on the Emperor Door, the mosaic of Leo VI dates to the 9th century. This interesting mosaic has a humorous story. Emperor Leo VI married to a pious woman who preferred to sleep in a mat to be able to rise for pray frequently. Not having had a heir, the Emperor married to Zoe […]

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]]> Located on the Emperor Door, the mosaic of Leo VI dates to the 9th century. This interesting mosaic has a humorous story. Emperor Leo VI married to a pious woman who preferred to sleep in a mat to be able to rise for pray frequently. Not having had a heir, the Emperor married to Zoe as soon as his wife died. However, Zoe died just giving him a daughter.  When Leo VI married third time, he was condemned by the clergy. But his new wife gave him a son who died at birth.

Leo VI didn’t give up and decided to marry again. Finally, he had a son with his fourth wife. But this time he was punished by the church.

In this mosaic, we see Leo VI to be performing proskynesis (an act of homage). Christ is enthroned with 2 roundels of Mary and Gabriel. He wears a chiton. Mary’s hands are outstretched to Christ to forgive Leo. Christ is holding a script written: ‘’Peace be upon you. I am the light of the world.’’

 

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