Which architect co-designed Constantinople’s present Hagia Sophia with Isidore of Miletus?

Anthemius of Tralles co-designed Constantinople’s present Hagia Sophia with Isidore of Miletus.

Anthemius was a mathematician, physicist, and architect from Tralles in western Asia Minor. Emperor Justinian I appointed him and Isidore to design the church after the earlier Hagia Sophia was destroyed during the Nika riots in 532. The new building was dedicated in 537.

Anthemius died before construction was complete, while Isidore continued the work. Their design used a huge central dome, semi-domes, and complex transitional geometry to cover the basilica’s broad interior. The building’s original structure was later modified after earthquake damage.

A common mix-up is to credit only one architect. Historical sources associate Anthemius and Isidore jointly with the design, although their precise individual responsibilities are difficult to separate. The name Anthemius is also sometimes confused with Anthemius, the fifth-century western Roman emperor.