Byzantine Empire · 532-562

Hagia Sophia: a dome over Constantinople

After a riot burns the old church, Justinian orders a new one, and it is finished in under six years. Students explore how Hagia Sophia was built, why its dome amazed the world and how it outlived the empire that built it.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 537 to AD 1100
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

After a riot burns the old church, Justinian orders a new one, and it is finished in under six years. Students explore how Hagia Sophia was built, why its dome amazed the world and how it outlived the empire that built it.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the main features of Hagia Sophia: the dome, the pendentives and the windows.
  • Explain how a sea-side capital could gather materials and experts from across an empire.
  • Discuss why rulers build buildings that are meant to amaze.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 537

The city on the strait

Open the map in 537 on Constantinople and turn on Historical Events. Find the Construction of Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern. What does a great city need besides churches?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 537

Supplied by sea

Zoom out to the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara. Builders brought stone and columns from all over the empire by ship. Why was a city on the sea easy to supply?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1100

A church for centuries

Move the slider forward to 1100 and then to 1400. Is Hagia Sophia still inside Byzantine borders? What happens to the empire around it?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Hagia Sophia was finished in under six years. How could a city build so fast in the 530s?
  2. The architects, Anthemius and Isidore, were mathematicians as much as builders. Why would geometry matter for a dome?
  3. The first dome partly collapsed after earthquakes in 558. What does the rebuilding tell you about the city's priorities?
  4. Procopius wrote that the dome seemed to hang from heaven. Why do rulers build things that amaze people?
  5. The building has been a cathedral, a mosque and a museum. Who do you think a building like this belongs to?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Rule History as Justinian I. When a choice about money comes up, ask the class: buildings, the army or the treasury? Afterwards, discuss why Justinian thought a great church was worth the cost.

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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