The Australian National University (Canberra) Friends of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens (AAIA) invite you to an illustrated lecture by Professor Sasha Grishin, ‘The most beautiful church in Christendom: the Agia Sophia in Istanbul’.
One of the greatest architectural monuments in the world, the church of Agia Sophia was originally built as the Byzantine Cathedral of Constantinople under Emperor Justinian in the sixth century.
It remained the world’s largest cathedral for almost a millennium and has frequently been described as the most beautiful church in Christendom.
This lecture examines the architecture and the mosaic embellishments of Agia Sophia during the 900 years that it served as a Christian church before the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Sasha Grishin AM works as an art historian, art critic and art curator. He established the academic discipline of art history at the ANU in 1977, where he served as the Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History until he resigned at the end of 2013.
When: Thursday 2 October at 8.00 pm
Where: Aegean Room, Hellenic Club of Canberra, Woden
For more information, contact Elizabeth Minchinph 02 6125 5106