Hagia Irene
Name of Building
Hagia Irene
Town or City, Country where the building was originally established
Istanbul, Turkey
Date the building was designed and/or first built
Construction completed: 337
Destroyed by fire in Nika Revolt: 532
Church reconstruction ordered by Justinian I: 548
Damaged by Constantinople Earthquake: 740
Church enclosed within walls of Topkapi Palace: post-1453 (fall of Constantinople to Mehmed II)
Used by Janissaries as arsenal, warehouse for military equipment, and repository for trophies of arm and military regalia taken by the Ottomans during conquest: until 1826
Used by Janissaries as arsenal, warehouse for military equipment, and repository for trophies of arm and military regalia taken by the Ottomans during conquest: until 1826
Converted to National Military Museum during the reign of Sultan Ahmet III: 1726
Made into military antiques museum by Ahmed Fethi Paşa, Marshal of the Imperial Arsenal: 1846
Turned over to Turkish Ministry of Culture: 1978
Name of Architect, Builder, or Primary Patron Responsible
Patron: Constantine I (272-337)
Patron: Justinian I (482-565)
Culturally Specific Time Period
Byzantine
Geo-Location
41.00977991524552, 28.98119412883525
Materials
Brick, stone
Architectural Type
Religious
Commercial
Public
Image source
Image 1: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hagia_Irene,_Istanbul_(52112279404)_(cropped).jpg
Creative Commons or other copyright information
Image 1: Ninara, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Student First and Last Name
Brittany Lumanlan Martin
Citation
Patron: Constantine I (272-337) and Patron: Justinian I (482-565), “Hagia Irene,” World Architecture, accessed June 28, 2026, https://www.worldarchitecture.artinterp2.org/items/show/170.
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