Hagia Sophia is back in the news. To understand what is happening, we need to know the complex history of this building as a church, mosque, and museum, and the many parties that have sought to claim it. In this episode, Bob Ousterhout (University of Pennsylvania) illuminates this rich history, with a focus on the last century and a half, the current political forces, and the priority to preserve the history of the monument for all who wish to study and experience it. He is the author of the magisterial survey Eastern Medieval Architecture: The Building Traditions of Byzantium and Neighboring Lands (Oxford 2019), and an article on the topic at hand: 'From Hagia Sophia to Ayasofya: Architecture and the Persistence of Memory,' İstanbul Araştırmaları Yıllığı 2 (2013) 1-8, which is available here. [Sidenote: you may want to check out my recent podcast interviews on The Medieval Podcast and the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Podcast.]
77. How did most people in the Roman empire get by? with Kim Bowes
76. Exploring the monuments of Byzantine Constantinople, with Sergey Ivanov
75. The politics of archaeological heritage and reclamation, with Jonathan Hall
74. Laments for the Fall: Constantinople and Tenochtitlan in counterpoint, with Eleni Kefala
73. When did women “bind up” their hair, and why?, with Gabriel Radle
72. What do we mean by “Byzantine literature”?, with Stratis Papaioannou
71. Manuel II Palaiologos (1350-1425) had a lot to say, with Siren Çelik
70. Trees have histories too, with Alexander Olson
69. The experiences of Byzantine children, with Oana-Maria Cojocaru
68. Classical scholarship and philology in Byzantium, with Filippomaria Pontani
67. Wherein Tina and I take bad scholarly habits to task, with Tina Sessa
66. The perils of childbirth, with Christian Laes
65. Who was Hypatia of Alexandria and what does she stand for? with Silvia Ronchey
64. How did emperors make decisions?, with Michael Grünbart
63. The religion of simple believers, with Jack Tannous
62. Byzantine dress and fashion, with Jennifer Ball and Elizabeth Dospěl Williams
61. Being Roman in Syriac, with Hartmut Leppin
60. Representing the trauma of captivity, enslavement, and degradation, with Adam Goldwyn
59. What exactly ended in Late Antiquity?, with Polymnia Athanassiadi
58. The column and equestrian statue of Justinian, a landmark monument of Constantinople, with Elena Boeck
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Lore