# The Urgent Race to Save Turkey's 1,500-Year-Old Building ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building.webp]] **Creator:** The B1M · **Published:** 2026-06-10 · **Length:** 19:36 · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_v4hBVjqvo) > Caption source: YouTube English (United Kingdom) manual captions via TubeAlfred (`youtube_video_transcript`, kind=manual, language=en-GB); yt-dlp hit HTTP 429 / bot-check on the caption request. Speaker names and fuller interview quotes for **Dr. İlknur Türkoğlu**, **Yasin Karabacak** and lead architect **Hasan Firat Diker** are confirmed from The B1M's companion article, [One of History's Greatest Buildings is in Danger](https://www.theb1m.com/video/hagia-sophia-restoration) by Adam Savage. YouTube chapters used for section headings. Screenshots from the 720p stream (format 136). Host **Fred Mills**. Contains paid promotion for Rayon Design. Extra footage and images credited to ABC News, Al Jazeera, BBC News, CBS News, Daily Sabah, DW News, Ibrahim Bennett, i24 News, Julien Goettelmann, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy/X/Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism, NTV, Sky News, TRT World and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Thumbnail image: Liebherr. ## Outline ### 0:00 Intro - **0:02** This 1,500-year-old building has a story unlike any other: jewel of two giant empires, it has survived wars, looting, fires and multiple earthquakes. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0008.webp]] - **0:22** A recent surge in seismic activity sparks fear that a very big quake is not a case of *if* but *when*. An interviewee (Türkoğlu, per article) says institutions and ministries are already preparing. - **0:47** Centuries of accumulated damage are now showing — which is why **Hagia Sophia** is going through one of the biggest upgrades of its life, fusing past engineering genius with modern tools. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0030.webp]] - **1:15** Without that work, this marvel of the ancient world could become ancient history. ### 1:23 Connecting Continents - **1:25** **Istanbul** is the only major city that straddles two continents, divided by the **Bosphorus Strait**; overlooking that waterway is its most iconic landmark, Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom" in Ancient Greek). ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0130.webp]] - **1:53** **Angkor Wat**, the **Tower of London**, **Notre Dame** and the Vikings all came *after* it. - **2:00** Stand outside today and it has virtually disappeared under a mountain of scaffolding — the present work that the video will explain after first covering its past. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0200.webp]] - **2:23** Many rank it with the Pyramids, the Colosseum and the Great Wall of China among the greatest structures ever built. ### 2:34 The Beginning - **2:35** Finished in **537 AD**, it was the main cathedral of **Constantinople** (Istanbul under the Eastern Roman / Byzantine Empire) for over nine centuries. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0240.webp]] - **2:50** **Emperor Justinian I**, who commissioned it, is said to have shouted "**Solomon, I have surpassed thee!**" on completion — a flex aimed at King Solomon's Temple. - **3:06** Dr. **İlknur Türkoğlu** (Istanbul Gelisim University; article) calls the five-year build politics as much as piety: a very big, impressive building in a very short time. ### 3:42 Engineering the Dome - **3:32** The central dome (**31 m** diameter) was designed to look as if it floated above the floor — the first use of **pendentives**: four curved triangular segments turning a square base into a circular dome. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0320.webp]] - **3:58** Vertical load and outward lateral thrust still needed extra help. - **4:06** Tour guide and author **Yasin Karabacak** explains why they used **two semi-domes** (east and west) instead of four: four would have needed four giant pillars that would dominate the interior. North and south **buttresses** do similar work. ### 4:35 Ancient Wonder? - **4:35** Not on the classic Seven Wonders list (only the Great Pyramid remains), but materials tell another story: eight green marble columns believed recycled from the **Temple of Artemis**; red stone from Egypt's Eastern Desert in the **Omphalion** (imperial coronation site); yellow stone from Syria; marble from what is now Tunisia and Algeria. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0440.webp]] - **5:22** Fred pivots to a **Rayon Design** sponsor segment (web-based CAD, 50,000+ blocks, AI custom blocks, cloud collaboration), framed as designing a Bosphorus penthouse a Byzantine emperor would envy. ### 7:02 Construction Complications - **7:03** Nature outdoes imperial ambition. Türkoğlu recalls the **1999** earthquake near Istanbul; architects in the 6th century would not have known they were near a fault zone. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0730.webp]] - **7:46** This was already the **third** attempt to build the place. In **558**, just over 20 years after completion, the dome collapsed — too shallow, so loads cracked and shifted the walls; earthquake lateral forces finished the job. - **8:23** Rebuilt with a higher crown/apex and ribs so forces go straight to the supports; further partial collapses in the **10th** and **14th** centuries. Today's dome has stood since the **15th** century (~600 years). ### 8:52 Ottoman Conquest - **8:52** Constantinople falls to the **Ottoman Empire**; Hagia Sophia becomes a mosque. Christian mosaics are covered or plastered over (rediscovered much later). **Minarets** for the call to prayer go up — first two soon after the conquest, others a century later. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t0920.webp]] - **9:24** Karabacak: in the 16th century the building was about to collapse, so master architect **Mimar Sinan** added two more minarets with oversized bases that act as **buttresses**. ### 9:55 Dawn of the Republic - **9:55** Mid-1930s: after the Ottoman overthrow and the birth of the secular **Republic of Turkey**, founding father **Mustafa Kemal Atatürk** turns Hagia Sophia into a **museum** so people of all faiths can visit. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t1020.webp]] - **10:34** Hidden Christian mosaics are uncovered beside later Islamic calligraphy — rare shared iconography from the world's two largest religions in one building. ### 10:49 A Mosque Again - **10:56** In **2020**, President **Erdoğan** reverses the 1934 decree; the building becomes a mosque again. Main floor for Islamic worship; galleries open to non-Muslims. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t1120.webp]] - **11:15** Street reactions split: some call it the best decision for Turkey; another speaker argues ~1,000 years as church and ~1,000 as mosque meant it should have stayed a museum, citing Viking graffiti on the marbles. - **11:50** The intensity of the debate itself shows how important the building still is worldwide. ### 11:58 2023 Earthquakes - **12:04** **2023**: Turkey is hit by two devastating quakes the same day — a **7.8** magnitude tremor before dawn, then a shallow **7.5** about nine hours later, felt across the Middle East. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t1220.webp]] - **12:29** Worst destruction in the south-east and centre. Away from the epicentre, a multi-year plan is drawn up to address "**centuries-old fatigue**" in Hagia Sophia and prepare for a quake closer to Istanbul. ### 12:53 Seismic Restoration - **12:53** About two years later, reinforcement work begins. The team does not yet know the dome's true state, so they cut **24 openings** to look inside. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t1320.webp]] - **13:11** Extra fill (soil, wooden beams) from past repairs had made the dome "**roundish**" but heavier than it should be — three parts from different centuries that do not always fit. Lead architect **Hasan Firat Diker** (Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University; article) says a main aim is to remove that extra load. - **14:00** Worn **lead coverings** on main and semi-domes are being replaced. A **steel shroud** protects the opened roof from weather and shields interior mosaics ("even half an hour of rain can damage"). ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t1410.webp]] ### 14:43 Making Preparations - **14:44** Four large interior **piers/towers** support the steel structure and give workers access without loading the dome — arranged so worship can continue. - **15:07** Broader scope: floor, columns, mosaics; ground-floor marble to match the earlier gallery restoration. Active place of worship and **UNESCO World Heritage Site**. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t1520.webp]] - **15:38** Concern over trucks and cranes driven inside for the first time onto a floor never designed for modern vehicles. Diker's team tested soil, ran radar scans and load calculations, then built a **multi-layer temporary floor** (≈10 cm sand, membranes, wooden floors, etc.) before machinery entered. ### 16:43 Reinforcing the Domes - **16:43** Full seismic details are still being worked out, but one known risk is "**hammering**": main and semi-domes are not properly connected and could strike each other in a quake. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t1720.webp]] - **17:04** Diker: connect those weak points so the domes work **together**, not individually. - **17:29** Meanwhile, workers examining the western garden and northern façade uncover a **tunnel network** ~**1,600 years** old — older than Hagia Sophia itself. ### 17:47 Project's Importance - **17:47** Ancient fabric above and below ground underscores the stakes. Fred cites the **Notre Dame** fire in Paris and the collapse of **Christchurch Cathedral** in New Zealand as warnings not to leave great buildings too late. ![[images/The-Urgent-Race-to-Save-Turkeys-1500-Year-Old-Building-t1820.webp]] - **18:39** Türkoğlu: few buildings this old still stand; every inch feels precious — common heritage of two major religions that must be handled carefully. - **19:07** Closing Rayon Design sponsor reminder and subscribe CTA for The B1M. ## Things mentioned ### Buildings and sites - Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya / Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque), Istanbul - Omphalion (imperial coronation floor); galleries / upper floors - Temple of Artemis (source of recycled green marble columns) - Notre Dame (Paris fire); Christchurch Cathedral (New Zealand collapse) - Angkor Wat; Tower of London; Pyramids; Colosseum; Great Wall of China; Great Pyramid (sole surviving ancient wonder on that list) - King Solomon's Temple (Justinian's boast) ### Places and geography - Istanbul / Constantinople; Bosphorus Strait (Europe–Asia) - Turkey / Türkiye (south-east and centre hardest hit in 2023) - Egypt's Eastern Desert; Syria; Tunisia; Algeria (historic materials) - Greece, Italy, Turkey (6th-century earthquake belt); Middle East (2023 tremors felt) ### Engineering and restoration - Pendentives; 31 m central dome; east/west semi-domes; north/south buttresses - 558 AD dome collapse (too shallow); rebuild with higher crown/apex and ribs - Minarets as buttresses (Mimar Sinan's oversized bases) - 24 inspection openings in the dome; removal of soil/wood fill and extra load - Lead dome and semi-dome coverings; temporary steel weather shroud - Four interior piers/towers for access and shroud support - Multi-layer temporary floor (sand ≈10 cm, membranes, timber) for trucks/cranes - Soil tests, radar scans, load calculations; seismic "hammering" connection of main and semi-domes - ~1,600-year-old tunnel network (western garden / northern façade) - UNESCO World Heritage Site; active mosque worship during works ### Events and dates - 537 AD completion; 558 dome collapse; 10th/14th-century partial collapses; 15th-century dome form - Ottoman conquest and mosque conversion; 16th-century Sinan intervention - Mid-1930s museum conversion (1934 decree); 2020 mosque reconversion - 1999 regional earthquake; 2023 twin quakes (7.8 then 7.5) - Multi-year restoration plan; reinforcement works beginning ~two years after 2023 ### People and organisations - Fred Mills (host); Adam Savage (companion article) - Emperor Justinian I (Justinianus); Mimar Sinan; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - Dr. İlknur Türkoğlu; Yasin Karabacak; Hasan Firat Diker ("Hassan" in narration) - Istanbul Gelisim University; Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University - Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Directorate General of Foundations (context) ### Sponsor and channel - Rayon Design (sponsor): web CAD, 50,000+ blocks, AI custom blocks, cloud collaboration - Fred's book *MEGA BUILDS*; Get Construction Talking; *The World's Best Construction Podcast* (description) ## Biographies ### Fred Mills Founder and on-camera host of **The B1M**. Narrates Hagia Sophia's 1,500-year arc from Byzantine cathedral to Ottoman mosque, Atatürk museum and 2020 mosque again, then walks through the seismic restoration and Rayon Design sponsor segments. ### Hasan Firat Diker Lead architect on the Hagia Sophia restoration and a professor at **Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University**'s Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture (per the companion article; the narration calls him "Hassan"). Describes opening 24 dome spaces, finding multi-century fill that overloaded a non-circular shell, replacing lead coverings, erecting the weather scaffolding, building the multi-layer temporary floor for machinery, and connecting main and semi-domes against earthquake hammering. ### Dr. İlknur Türkoğlu Assistant professor at **Istanbul Gelisim University**'s School of Applied Sciences (Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties). Frames Justinian's five-year build as a political show of power, recalls the 1999 earthquake's impact on Istanbul, and closes by calling Hagia Sophia common heritage of two major religions that must be handled carefully. ### Yasin Karabacak Istanbul tour guide and author of books on Hagia Sophia. Explains the two-semi-dome structural choice versus four pillars, Sinan's minarets-as-buttresses rescue in the 16th century, and the ongoing floor, column and mosaic restoration while worship continues. ### Emperor Justinian I (Justinianus) Byzantine emperor who commissioned the present Hagia Sophia, finished in **537 AD** in about five years. Credited with the floating-dome ambition and the legendary "Solomon, I have surpassed thee" boast. ### Mimar Sinan Celebrated Ottoman imperial architect. In the 16th century, with the building near collapse, he added two further minarets whose oversized bases act as buttresses supporting the structure. ### Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Founding father of the Republic of Turkey. Under his secular reforms, Hagia Sophia was converted from mosque to **museum** in the mid-1930s so visitors of all backgrounds could experience both Christian mosaics and Islamic calligraphy. ### Recep Tayyip Erdoğan President of Turkey who in **2020** reversed the 1934 museum decree, returning Hagia Sophia to use as a mosque (main floor for worship; galleries for non-Muslim visitors) — a decision that remains politically and culturally contested.