Architect Trdat and the dome of Hagia Sophia

The dome of the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, which had collapsed in the earthquake of 989, was restored by the Armenian architect Trdat. Byzantine sources do not mention his name; it survives only in the early 11th-century “Universal History” of Stepanos Taronetsi. The chronicler relates that many Greek masters had tried to restore the church, and that Trdat presented a design and a model of the dome and restored the church more beautifully than before.

Trdat was the court architect of the Bagratids and the builder of the Catholicos’ cathedral at Argina. The dome had first collapsed in May 558, 21 years after the church was completed. According to the source, Trdat built the dome of clay jars set one inside another, which made the dome lighter and improved the acoustics of the church.

The upper photograph shows the dome and half-domes from inside, with a ring of windows and golden decoration; the lower one shows the building from outside, with its minarets.