Hagia Sophia, one of Istanbul‘s most iconic monuments, is undergoing the largest restoration in its history with the main aim of preparing it to withstand the future great earthquake that scientists predict will hit the Turkish metropolis before the end of this century.
This was explained yesterday by Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Nuri Ersoy during a press appearance in front of the 1,500-year-old monument, which will nevertheless remain open to tourists during the restoration work – expected to take two to three years, and which is currently being carried out on the façade and the main dome.
“We have also started the construction of a system of steel platforms, and the necessary precautions have been taken at the gates,” the minister was quoted as saying by Turkish newspapers such as Hürriyet. “To protect the fragile mosaics of the dome, we have installed a temporary covering system and started to build a steel platform… Earthquake safety is the top priority in this restoration,” Ersoy said.
“Structural studies revealed the need to reinforce the dome, and the intervention will be carried out from the outside. The work being carried out on the Grand Mosque of Hagia Sophia is not only a restoration: it is also a major conservation campaign combining engineering, art and science,” added the minister, who confirmed that once the work is completed, the temporary structures added during the works will be removed.
Ersoy, who recalled that all works carried out on the monument are being supervised by a scientific committee, stressed that thanks to this restoration, Istanbul‘s Hagia Sophia will be handed over to future generations as a more robust legacy, both spiritually and religiously as well as culturally. “We are working diligently to protect, strengthen and properly pass on to future generations this unique legacy, the shared heritage not only of our nation, but of all humanity. We are working together to ensure that Hagia Sophia, which has stood for 15 centuries and has been destroyed and rebuilt three times throughout its history, is preserved for future generations,” the minister said.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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