Hagia Sophia Throughout The Ages

On Thursday 8 October, two of our faculty members, Dr Mario Baghos (Lecturer in Patristics and Church History) and Dr Andrew Mellas (Senior Lecturer in Church History and Liturgical Studies), spoke at an event held at St Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church, Mascot and co-sponsored by the College (along with the Sydney University Greek Society), 'Hagia Sophia Throughout the Ages.' This event was held with the blessing of our College Dean His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, who was represented by His Grace Bishop Emilianos of Meloa.

Dr Baghos addressed the broader architectural and artistic context of Hagia Sophia from a theological and historical perspective. This was followed by the analysis and practical demonstration of what chanting in Hagia Sophia would have sounded like by Dr Andrew Mellas. Finally, the event ended with Professor Vrasidas Karalis (Sir Nicholas Laurentus Professor of Modern Greek, University of Sydney) exploring Hagia Sophia's role in modern geopolitical conflicts, with its recent conversion into a mosque as an attempt to bolster Turkish hegemony contradicting that this building is a monument of global and multi-religious/ethnic importance.