This Is What Hagia Sophia Looked Like on Day One

On 27 December 537, Emperor Justinian walked into Hagia Sophia for the first time. This is what he saw — before the dome fell, before the minarets rose, before fifteen centuries of earthquakes, crusaders and conquerors. Using footage of the building today and reconstructions based on historical sources, we rebuild Hagia Sophia as it once stood — and follow it through every change since. Chapters 0:00 As it once stood 0:49 The Nika riot and the burning city 1:44 Two scholars and an impossible dome 3:14 Opening day, 537 4:33 Collapse and rebirth 5:24 Marks of the centuries 6:28 1204 and 1453 7:49 The Ottoman transformation 9:00 Museum, then mosque again 9:41 Hagia Sophia today 10:01 Everyone who stood here 11:05 Still standing About the reconstructions Scenes labelled "AI reconstruction" are digital reconstructions made with AI image and video tools, based on historical sources, period drawings and the building as it stands today. They show how the building may have looked; they are not photographs or historical records. Sources Procopius, Buildings I.1 and Wars I.24 (tr. H. B. Dewing, Loeb, 1914–1940) — via LacusCurtius: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/... John Malalas, Chronicle (on the dome collapse of 558) Narratio de structura templi Sanctae Sophiae (9th century; legendary account) Steven Runciman, The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Cambridge University Press, 1965) "Sex, Lies, and Mosaics: The Zoe Panel", Articulate (University of Victoria) — https://finearts.uvic.ca/articulate/w... Smarthistory, Middle Byzantine mosaics in Hagia Sophia — https://smarthistory.org/middle-byzan... Hagia Sophia Museums, History & Architecture — https://hagiasophiamuseums.org/en/his... Runic inscriptions in Hagia Sophia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runic_i... NPR, "Hagia Sophia Hosts Muslim Prayers" (24 July 2020) — https://www.npr.org/2020/07/24/895018... Medievalists.net, on the 2025 dome restoration — https://www.medievalists.net/2025/05/... Image credits (Wikimedia Commons) Gravestone of Enrico Dandolo — photo by Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., colour-graded — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Empress Zoe panel and apse mosaic — photos by Myrabella, public domain Upper gallery — photo by Gryffindor, public domain Mosaic of Justinian I, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna — public domain Halfdan runic inscription — public domain Gaspare Fossati & Louis Haghe, lithographs of Hagia Sophia (1852) — Library of Congress, public domain Guillaume Berggren, interior of Hagia Sophia (late 1870s) — public domain Stock footage, photos, music and sound effects licensed via Envato. Next time: the Colosseum, as it once stood. #HagiaSophia #Istanbul #ByzantineEmpire