The Hagia Sophia of Istanbul tells the story of the rise and fall of one of the greatest empires in human history. Constantine built the original church in the 4th century before being destroyed during riots in the early 5th century. Theodosius II rebuilt it, and it became the first to carry the name Hagia Sophia. Rioters burnt the Theodosian Hagia Sophia to the ground for the second time during the Nika Revolt against Justinian I in 532. Justinian, having kicked the rioters' arses, decided to rebuild again. The instantly recognisable landmark has been a place of worship for Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Islam and even a museum depending on who controlled the city at any given time.
In the upper south gallery, an extraordinary Byzantine mosaic shows Empress Zoe and her husband, Constantine IX, on either side of Jesus Christ. Constantine was her 3rd husband, and Zoe had the faces and inscription redone with each marriage, looking younger after each redo. Legend has it that she had her first husband murdered by her lover (husband two). There's a whole host of fuckery that ends with Zoe finally marrying Constantin IX and reigning with the much younger man and his mistress (yep, polyamory 11th-century style) until she died in 1050. You have to love history - I couldn't write that stuff.
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