HYLE “HISTORIAS” - THE CONSTRUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CHURCH OF HAGIA SOPHIA AT CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE BUILDINGS OF JUSTIANIAN’S REIGN

HYLE “HISTORIAS” - THE CONSTRUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CHURCH OF HAGIA SOPHIA AT CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE BUILDINGS OF JUSTIANIAN’S REIGN The policy for the government of the Roman Empire, in the VI Century, was marked by an important building transformation describe in the Perì Ktismaton (De Aedificiis) with which Procopius, the author of “Secret History” and “Wars”, would bestow praise on Justinian. The Emperor embarked on a programme of construction and restoration of religious and civil buildings, including the structures at the frontiers of his vast Empire. This undertaking might have presupposed a building continuity with the traditional local system but, also, might have imposed new technologies. This short analysis of the big enterprise by Justinian begins from the ekphrasis by Procopio, going on thought the description of the Hagia Sophia's structures, for arriving at comparison between the building systems which will be discussed in the paper. Most of the information on the techniques of Hagia Sophia becomes from the ancient panegyric literature, from the archaeological and architectural studies and from the most recently scientific contributions, given by engineering studies, also about the seismic events which interest the Turkey's regions. Nowadays, the research on the geometry, the displacements and deformations of the main structures of Hagia Sophia have yielded a very important contribution for the comprehension of this building technique, an important expression of the architectural culture of he VI Cent. Even if today the science offers sophisticated instruments and methods, it is undeniable that the historical research on the building, especially on its foundation, restoration and constructive phases, and the cognition of the local building traditions, gets from the use and from the worker's masterly manners (it is possible to say that the local building traditions may change on account of variables cited above), is an indispensable instrument that must to satisfy the exigency both of the history of art and of the building restoration, from the structural and the material point of view.