Hagia Sophia
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/02/01/14/118 |
| Level | Item |
| Place |
Monemvasia |
| Dates | 1888-1890 |
| Donor/Creator |
Weir Schultz, Mr Robert Barnsley, Mr Sidney Howard |
| Scope and Content | South-west view. The photograph is annotated in pencil at the back. |
| Further information | Monemvasia is built on a steep rock rising majestically from the sea a short distance from the most south-eastern extremity of the Peloponnese. Naturally fortified and in a strategic position (its name is translated as: ‘only one entrance’) it was inhabited as early as the 6th c. and reached its peak in the 14th c. Combined forces of the Franks and the Venetians besieged Monemvasia in 1246 while in 1262 it returned to Byzantine hands. Under Andronikos II it became the seat of the tenth bishopric of the Byzantine empire. After a short period of independence, having seen off Sultan Mehmed in 1460 and enjoying for three years the protection of Pope Pius II, it was conquered alternately by the Venetians and the Turks. The church of Hagia Sophia stands on a spectacular site clinging precariously to the cliff. The monument which in Byzantine times was dedicated to the Hodegitria, is a copy of the katholikon of the Hosios Loukas monastery with a tripartite gallery above the narthex: a broad sixteen-sided drum is carried on an octagon of vaults and squinches. The fine cloisonné masonry of the exterior is enlivened by brickwork patterns of inventive carved motifs. The church was the katholikon of a monastic complex and, although allegedly a thirteenth-century building (according to the local tradition Emperor Andronikos II (1282-1328) was the founder of the monastery) it has been dated by recent research to the middle of the 12th c. The part attached to the south side rooms collapsed in 1893. A massive eighteenth-century Venetian porch was adjacent to the west side of the monument. The interior of the church must have been lavishly decorated: marble revetments covered the walls up to a certain level while the three of the naos doors still retain their carved marble lintels. The few surviving frescoes suggest that the fresco programme was unusually rich and of excellent quality. |