Hagia Sophia: Istanbul's Ancient Mystery | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBS

How has this unique structure, built on a seismic fault, survived centuries of quakes?
(Aired February 25, 2015)

Official Website: https://to.pbs.org/4652uU4 | #novapbs

Whether serving as Christian church, Islamic mosque, or secular museum, Hagia Sophia and its soaring dome have inspired reverence and awe. For 800 years, it was the largest enclosed building in the world—the Statue of Liberty can fit beneath its dome with room to spare. How has it survived its location on one of the world's most active seismic faults, which has inflicted a dozen devastating earthquakes since it was built in 537? As Istanbul braces for the next big quake, a team of architects and engineers is urgently investigating Hagia Sophia's seismic secrets. Follow engineers as they build a massive 8-ton model of the building's core structure, place it on a motorized shake table, and hit it with a series of simulated quakes, pushing it collapse—a fate that the team is determined to avoid with the real building.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
06:01: The Structure of Hagia Sophia and Potential Earthquake Threats
10:48 Why Was Hagia Sophia Built?
14:36 Global Influences on the Structure of Hagia Sophia
21:36 Hagia Sophia Damage and Change Over the Years
30:45 How Does Hagia Sophia Survive Earthquakes?
35:35 Searching for Hidden Byzantine Mosaics in Hagia Sophia
41:11 Recreating the Core Structure of Hagia Sophia for a Shake Table Test
51:04 Conclusion

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