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Secondary sourceArtifact532-537 CE

Hagia Sophia

Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles · 532-537 CE

The great domed church-turned-mosque of Constantinople, which Ibn Battuta viewed from outside during his visit to the city with a Byzantine princess.

Ibn Battuta described Hagia Sophia from outside during his visit to Constantinople, a rare Muslim eyewitness account of Byzantium.

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Exterior view of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul under a clear blue sky. A large central dome rests on a pink-and-cream walled structure, flanked by tall white minarets and a brick-red minaret, with smaller domes and trees in the foreground and visitors on the paths below.
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, built 532-537 CE.

About this source

What it is

Hagia Sophia is a huge domed building in Istanbul, built as a Christian church under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. It later became a mosque and still stands today.

Why it matters

For centuries it was the largest church in the world and a symbol of Byzantine power. When Ibn Battuta travelled to Constantinople, he saw it from outside as a Muslim visitor, giving a rare outsider's description of this famous Christian building before it became a mosque after the Ottoman conquest.

Look closer

  • Why might a Muslim traveller only describe the outside of a church he could not enter?
  • What does the building's long history as church, mosque, and museum tell you about changing rulers in the region?
  • What is missing from a traveller's account compared to seeing the building yourself?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ibn Battuta, Justinian I and Mehmed II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Scanned manuscript page in Arabic calligraphy on aged cream paper. The top has a line of black script with a decorative heading, and a red-ink title block in larger calligraphy reading the opening of the work. Below are about two dozen lines of brown-ink handwritten text in dense Arabic script, with a marginal note at the bottom left.Book

Primary source

The Rihla

Ibn Battuta · 1354-1356

Two facing pages of a handwritten Arabic manuscript on aged paper. The right page is written in dark ink in neat, flowing script; the left page is faded and more worn, with lines of script partly obscured. The pages show the text of the travel account.Book

Primary source

Manuscript of the Rihla by Ibn Juzayy

Ibn Juzayy · 14th century

Ruins of a stone fort on a dry, hazy hillside under a pale sky. Massive sloping stone walls with crenellated battlements stand on the left, and a long arched stone gallery with a flat roof runs across the right. Scrubby bushes and dry earth surround the site, with a distant city skyline on the horizon.Artifact

Secondary source

Tughlaqabad Fort

Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq · 1321

Photograph of an open handwritten Arabic manuscript with dense black ink script on cream pages, with some red-ink headings visible. The left page is in focus and the right page is angled and partly blurred.Book

Secondary source

Manuscript copy of the Rihla (1484)

Ibn Juzayy · 1484

Eight vertical panels of the Catalan Atlas side by side, showing an illuminated medieval world map with colored seas, decorated landmasses, compass roses, flags, rulers on thrones, and figures and animals.Painting

Primary source

Catalan Atlas

Cresques Abraham · c. 1375

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