Procopios: on the Great Church, [Hagia Sophia]
Justinian's great building project of the Church of the Holy Wisdom - Hagia Sophia - was
completed in a few short years of building, and dedicated in 537, replacing the one
destroyed in the Nika Rebellion of 532.
The emperor, thinking not of cost of any kind, pressed on the work, and collected
together workmen from every land. It is indeed a proof of the esteem with which God
regarded the emperor, that he furnished him with men who would be so useful in
effecting his designs, and we are compelled to admire the wisdom of the emperor, in
being able to choose the most suitable of mankind to execute the noblest of his works....
The Church] has become a spectacle of indescribable beauty… for it soars to match the
sky, being more magnificent than ordinary buildings, and much more elegant than those
which are not of so just a proportion. The church is singularly full of light and sunshine;
you would declare that the place is not lighted by the sun from without, but that the rays
are produced within itself, such an abundance of light is poured into this church....
The whole ceiling is overlaid with pure gold, which adds glory to the beauty, yet the light
reflected from the stone prevails, shining out in rivalry with the gold. And there are two
stoa-like colonnades, one on each side … And they too have vaulted ceilings and
decorations of gold. One of these two colonnaded stoas has been assigned to men
worshippers, while the other is reserved for women … who could recount the beauty of
the columns and the stones with which the church is adorned? One might imagine one
had come upon a meadow with its flowers in f\full bloom. For he would surely marvel at
the purple of some, the green tint of others, and at those on which the crimson glows and
those from which the white flashes… And whenever anyone enters the church to pray, he
understands at once that it is not by any human power or skill, but by the influence of
God, that this work has been so finely tuned. And so his mind is lifted up toward God
and exalted, feeling that He cannot be far away, but especially love to dwell in this place
which he had chosen.
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Briefly describe the Church in your own words.
Did men and women pray together or apart?
What feelings did the church inspire in those who entered it?
How is this account different from the Secret History?