Haghia Sophia - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 37

collapses, in the years 989 and 1346, have left certain irregularities
in the dome; nevertheless it is essentially the same in design and
substantially also in structure as that of Isidorus the Younger.
The doors of Haghia Sophia were opened once again at sunrise
on Christmas Eve in the year 563, and Justinian, now an old man
in the very last months of his life, led the congregation in procession
to the church. Here is a poetic description of that occasion by Paul
the Silentiary, one of Justinian's court officials: “At last the holy morn
had come, and the great door of the newly-built temple groaned on
its opening hinges, inviting Emperor and people to enter; and when
the interior was seen sorrow fled from the hearts of all, as the sun lit
the glories of the temple. 'Twas for the Emperor to lead the way for
his people, and on the morrow to celebrate the birth of Christ. And
when the first glow of light, rosy-armed, leapt from arch to arch,
driving away the dark shadows, then all the princes and people with
one voice hymned their songs of praise and prayer; and as they came
to the sacred courts it seemed as if the mighty arches were set in
heaven.”
Although Haghia Sophia has been restored several times during
the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, the present edifice is essentially
that of Justinian's reign. The only major structural additions are
the huge and unsightly buttresses which support the building to
north and south. Originally erected by the Emperor Andronicus II
Palaeologus in 1317, when the church seemed in imminent danger
of collapse, they were restored and strengthened in Ottoman times.
The four minarets at the corners of the building were placed there at
various times after the Conquest: the south-east minaret by Sultan
Mehmet II, the one to the north-east by Beyazit II, and the two at the
western corners by Murat III, the work of the great Sinan. The last
extensive restorations were commissioned by Sultan Abdül Mecit and
carried out by the Swiss architects, the brothers Fossati, in the years
1847-9. As a result of this and later minor restorations and repairs,
Haghia Sophia is today structurally sound, despite its great age, and
looks much as it did in Justinian's time.