Turkey To Start Restoration Of The Hagia Sophia Dome

Hagia Sophia. (Wikimedia Commons/Adli Wahid)

JAKARTA - Turkey will begin restoration work and strengthen the Hagia Sophia dome, in one of the largest repair projects carried out on the 1,486-year-old building, experts say.

Hagia Sophia was the world's largest cathedral for 900 years, until she was captured by the Conqueror of the Ottoman Mehmet in 1453, after becoming one of the most powerful Islamic mosques for nearly 500 years.

The building was converted into a museum by Turkey's secular republic more than 70 years ago, but was turned back into a mosque by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2020.

The process will be difficult and will "open an important page in the book Hagia Sophia," said Asnu Bilban Yalcin, a Byzantine art historian, adding the restoration of other parts of the building had been going on for 10 years.

"It's really a shock-packed building because sometimes things develop in ways we didn't expect. That is, you design and plan it, but when you open it, things may develop differently," he told Reuters outside the Hagia Sophia, as quoted April 25.

The dome will first be closed to protect it during the repair process, said Ahmet Gulec, a conservation and property improvement expert, adding that existing lead covers will then be removed so that restoration and strengthening projects can be continued.

The strengthening project will focus on weak structural points determined during large earthquake simulations, in countries crossed by fault lines.

"The real structural problem will become clearer when a lead cover is raised," said Hasan Firat Diker, an architectural professor at Fatih University Sultan Mehmet Vakif.

The Hagia Sophia is expected to remain open to pilgrims and visitors during the restoration process, which makes the repair process even more difficult, Gulec said, a conservationist and cultural property improvementist.

Experts did not specify the completion date of the dome's restoration, given the potential setback due to weather conditions and unexpected additional work.