Abstract/Summary

Final publication of 14 years of archaeological work at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, aimed both at examining the immediate surroundings of the Byzantine church and recording newly-exposed parts of the church building itself. Discoveries include the Patriarchal palace (from which the Orthodox Church was governed for over a 1000 years), the main ('Great') baptistery of the church, and substantial new portions of the sixth-century cathedral. These alter significantly the known plan of the building and transform understanding of the surrounding ecclesiastical complex, with wide-ranging implications for the purpose and function of these and for interpreting wider ideological, cultural, religious and architectural change in the fifth and sixth centuries.