Hagia Sophia

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Architecture · 532–537 · Constantinople (Istanbul) · Europe

Its 31 m dome on pendentives made it the largest church for nearly a millennium and a model for mosques

Hagia Sophia — Arild Vågen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Author: Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus
Style: Byzantine art — Gold mosaics and a heaven-like dome: the church as paradise, the icon as a window to eternity
Century: 6th century

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Made around the same time (±30 years)

526–547 Basilica of San Vitale · Byzantine art · Ravenna
c. 550 Christ Pantocrator (Sinai) · Byzantine art · Probably Constantinople; kept at Sinai

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