Author(s)

R. Mark, A.S. Cakmak, K. Hill & R. Davidson

Abstract

Structural analysis of Hagia Sophia: a historical perspective R. Mark, A.S. Cakmak, K. Hill, R. Davidson Department of Civil Engineering & Operations Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ ABSTRACT An ongoing structural study by a group of American and Turkish engineers is aimed at deriving a better understanding of the structure and determining the current earthquake worthiness of Justinian's Hagia Sophia. This paper discusses possible design antecedents and aspects of the building's structural history as well as the creation of numerical models of its primary structure that account for both short- and long- term, linear and non-linear material behavior. INTRODUCTION Begun in 532 as the principal church of the Byzantine Empire (and converted to a royal mosque after the fall of the Empire in 1453), Hagia Sophia in Istanbul held the record as the world's largest domed building for some 800 years. For the dual role that the building was to assume in both ecclesiasti

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