Hagia Sophia's Dome Collapses: Justinian Orders It Rebuilt Immediately
The dome didn't just crack—it pancaked into the nave, twenty thousand tons of brick and mortar crushing the floor where emperors had stood. A mild earthquake the year before had weakened the eastern arch. Justinian, twenty-six years into his reign, didn't hesitate. He commissioned a redesigned dome, steeper and twenty feet higher than the original, using lighter materials. The new version stood for nearly a millennium. But here's the thing: the building that became Christianity's most celebrated church spent less than two decades with its first roof before collapsing under its own ambition.
May 7, 558
1468 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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