The 6th century church SS. Sergius and Bacchus, preserved as the mosque, Küçük Ayasofya

Küçük Ayasofya Mosque, the former Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Istanbul, c. 536

speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

[ForzaStiinta]

I am now in Ravenna and I saw San Vitale with it's splendid mosaic of Justinian and Theodora. Lovely coincidence and great episode.

[TheZestyTea]

Great video! Thank you for your time and dedication.

[barrymoore]

It's such an intimate space compared to Hagia Sophia, elegance contrasted with the great church's majesty. The interior carved details are quite lovely, and presented and discussed with assurance. It's remarkable to remember that these two fine survivors of early Eastern Roman architecture have stood for almost a millennium and a half.

[carlberg]

Exciting to discover masterpieces I didn't know existed. Thanks.

[brianholihan]

I loved exploring its interior. It was light and intimate, with few tourists, so it was also quiet and serene. .

[JerjerB]

It's really a wonderful little place... No tourists

[Sasha]

You guys are helping me survive the last couple of hours of my shift, so thank you for that. 🥴❤
This place is full of surprises. What an amazing backstory I wasn't expecting. I heard the names of Sergius and Bacchus which made me think of Romans, not Christian martyrs. Bonus for the beautiful mosaic accompanying that story. And I don't think I've ever seen capitals quite so lovely as these - I dig the lacey look of them. This was a treat and a solid conclusion to a quick but engaging playlist!

[a-complished]

I believe the orientation of the Mirhab looks off, because there are only 6 degrees difference between the original orientation towards Jerusalem, and after it became a mosque, they corrected it slightly to turn to Mecca. Same happened to Haggia Sofia. This is what I learned when I went there. Correct me if I am wrong 😢

[portastsic]

Love the videos

The way the narrators, seemingly, whisper reminds of the NPR skits on SNL.

Doing these recordings in a library?

[georgefreitas]

Would that column be classified as Corinthian?great episode thanks for sharing ❤

[stephenparker]

Sergius and Bacchus were a same sex couple. After the first was killed the second one prayed to be unified in death with his beloved rather than with Christ. This according to the scholarship of Dr. John Boswell, Director of Scholarly Studies in History at Yale.

[kaminobatto]

I love that I get to see the architecture and art of the world through your lens and hear about them from you.

[miltonthomaslowe]

How does this church compare to Charlemagne and his tomb?

[random]

2:00 The B E Monogram/Initials carved into Hagia Sophia's capitals: who is being paid tribute to here? 🤔

[miketackabery]

So sad to have lost this great church to non Christians. So much of the beauty of it's original purpose stripped away and a foreign purpose laid over it's form. What a loss.

[lwaldron]

@01:38 Inscription

[Ἄλλοι μὲν βα]σιλῆες ἐτιμήσαντο θανόντας

ἀνέρας, ὧν ἀνόνητος ἔην πόνος· ἡμέτερος δὲ

εὐσεβίην σκηπτοῦχος Ἰουστινιανὸς ἀέξων

Σέργιον αἰγλήεντι δόμῳ θεράποντα γεραίρει

5 Χριστοῦ παγγενέταο· τὸν οὐ πυρὸς ἀτμὸς ἀνάπτων,

οὐ ξίφος, οὐχ ἑτέρη βασάνων ἐτάραξεν ἀνάγκη,

ἀλλὰ θεοῦ τέτληκεν ὑπὲρ Χριστοῖο δαμῆναι

αἵματι κερδαίνων δόμον οὐρανόν. ἀλλ᾽ ἐνὶ πᾶσιν

κοιρανίην βασιλῆος ἀκοιμήτοιο φυλάξοι

10 καὶ κράτος αὐξήσειε θεοστεφέος Θεοδώρης,

ἧς νόος εὐσεβίῃ φαιδρύνεται, ἧς πόνος ἀεὶ

ἀκτεάνων θρεπτῆρες ἀφειδέες εἰσὶν ἀγῶνες.

[R.E.A.L.I.T.Y]

Sergius & Bachus were lovers, centurions & a married. Their love for each other kept their faith despite their martyrdom. Catholic Church had c.80 male marriage ceremonies. It was moral, admirable & normal. These ceremonies are now hidden in the Vaticans classified archive. FFS

[arturocostantino]

Mecca is southwest of Istanbul. But I really like your videos.😊

[sivaskangalar]

Thank you for your work! I use your videos frequently in my classes! Question: why are you pronouncing the "g" in Hagia Sofia? The g is silent in Turkish. And, I do notice that all over the world of art and art history the pronunciation varies.

[LJ]

A real shame what the Muslims did to the original stunning decorations but we can't forget that protestants have done the same to churches all over Europe too.