Description

Original bdg. HC. Folio. (40 x 30 cm). In English, French, Turkish, and Arabic. 80 p., full page color ills. Reprint of the 1852 Edition. St. Sofia converted by Mehmed the Conqueror into a mosque after the conquest of Istanbul often has been restored. There was again needed a major restoration in the era Sultan Abdulmecid. Sultan was appointed architect Gaspard Fossati for this restoration. For this restoration, about 800 workers worked and all the building has been almost completely repaired. Fossati has produced 25 drawings showing the interior and exterior of Hagia Sophia and he suppressed these drawings as a album in 1852 in French. The Fossati brothers, Gaspare and Giuseppe (1822-1891), were Swiss architects. They completed more than 50 projects in Turkey during the Tanzimat Era. They belonged to the Morcote branch of the Fossati, a prominent Ticinese family with mentions in the historical record going back to the 14th century. This Edition is a reprint and translated edition which is almost identical to original. A very heavy volume. 1000 copies were printed.