Clergymen and restorers in Turkey have expressed concern over the way restoration work is being carried out at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul after footage showing trucks and cranes parked inside the historic building was shared on social media, the Türkiye Today website reported on November 23.
Since 2023, Hagia Sophia has been the subject of large-scale restoration work aimed at strengthening and preserving the 14th-century building, which Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has called “the most comprehensive restoration of the site to date.”
Since April this year, restorers’ efforts have focused mainly on strengthening the building’s central dome, both inside and outside. In recent days, images have surfaced on social media in Turkey showing heavy trucks and cranes parked inside Hagia Sophia as part of restoration work.
The photos have raised questions about how the restoration is being carried out and have sparked concern among clerics and restorers in the country.
According to a restorer who asked not to be named, the photos show that the trucks are using weight-distributing sheets that are not thick enough to protect the building’s floor from the weight of the machinery. The expert also said that the vibrations produced by the trucks’ engines could cause microcracks in the facade and dome of the historic building.
A Muslim cleric, speaking to Türkiye Today on condition of anonymity, also shared his concerns about the restoration work, pointing out that the floor of Hagia Sophia is not made of a solid single layer, but rather a collection of various stones, niches, crypts and mosaics that can easily be deformed by the weight of trucks being driven into the site. According to the cleric, the deformation of the building’s floor could also lead to the displacement of its entire structure.
Hagia Sophia, which is designated by UNESCO as a monument of universal human value, served as a church for 916 years. After the capture of Constantinople in 1453 by the troops of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (the Conqueror), it was converted into a mosque. By decree of Ataturk and a decision of the Council of Ministers in 1934, it was converted into a national museum. It remained as such until 5 years ago.
On July 10, 2020, by a decision of the State Council, its museum status was revoked, and on the same day, by decree of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hagia Sophia was reopened as a mosque. In August of this year, a man tried to set fire to the thousand-year-old temple.
Illustrative Photo by Meruyert Gonullu: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-walking-on-the-street-7314542/
We acknowledge The European Times for the information.
