Preliminary Evaluation of the Terrestrial Laser Scanning Survey of the Subterranean Structures at Hagia Sophia
-
Hasan Fırat Diker
and
Mine Esmer
Abstract
This article presents the preliminary evaluation of the first terrestrial laser scan survey on the subterranean structures of Hagia Sophia, which was built in the Late Antique Era in Istanbul. The project which was carried out in 2020, aimed to study the underground network of Hagia Sophia which consists of ventilation channels, wells, and other spatial units of various sizes, serving various functions (e.g. a passage, hypogeum, and cellar). This project allowed for a visualization of units that have a total length of approximately 936 m. According to our observations, this infrastructure provided water supply, drainage, and air circulation. The cloud point data derived from the scanning provided us with a plan overlapping with the ground floor, and multiple cross-sections which present the relationship of the different layers with each other. To this end, the survey helps understand the different underground layers, as well as their relations with the superstructures. These relations enabled us to discuss on the atriums of the Theodosian Hagia Sophia and Justinian’s Hagia Sophia. Finally, we could determine the points where the debris and mud has blocked or restricted air circulation in the channels.
Acknowledgements
We carried out the field survey in collaboration with the Hagia Sophia Museum Directorate between June 29 and July 16, 2020. The present authors and lecturer Hakan Eğilmez from the Department of Fine Arts at Istanbul Technical University and Dr. Alidost Ertuğrul from IRCICA supervised the research project. Prior to the scanning task, a determination for the methods of this research was necessary. Therefore, we inspected the building in January–February 2020 to determine the methods and devices. After our examinations, the Covid-19 pandemic began, which prevented site-work until the end of June 2020. Our project was supported by Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University both with the use of Faro Focus 150 S Terrestrial Scanning Device and also a modest budget for processing operations to merge our scan cloud data with the University of Calabria’s cloud data for the superstructures at Hagia Sophia. We would like to thank to KRM Engineering Company from Kastamonu and LiTech Engineering from Istanbul for processing services. We would like to express our gratitude to the University of Calabria for sharing with us their point cloud data. And we would especially like to thank the owner of Geoanaliz Yer Bilimleri Company, Ortaç Alkan, for kind support of the partial Ground Penetrating Radar implementation. Apart from the above, this project was only possible with the exceptional efforts of the project coordinators, some graduate students from FSMVU (Rüveyda Korkut, Ramazan Yıldırım, Enes Uluköylü) and Galeri Cave and Diving Club members (Barkın İren and Özlem Kaya) who worked voluntarily in the project. And our deepest gratitude is to Hayrullah Cengiz, who was the former director of the museum. During the conversion of the function of the monument from a museum to a mosque, we could conclude our work with the conveniences provided by Hayrullah Cengiz and his staff. Despite the pandemic, time, and budget limitations, we would like to emphasize that we are indebted to all above-mentioned names once more for supporting us in the project’s conduction.
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Articles in the same Issue
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- Editor’s Introduction, Vol. 50, No. 2
- Feature Articles
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- Aspects of the Long-Term Preservation of Digitized Catalogue Data: Analysis of the Databases of Integrated Collection Management Systems
- Preliminary Evaluation of the Terrestrial Laser Scanning Survey of the Subterranean Structures at Hagia Sophia
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editor’s Introduction, Vol. 50, No. 2
- Feature Articles
- How Digitization is Empowering Vietnamese Cultural Professionals to Preserve, Present, and Promote Art and Culture Online: Navigating Challenges whilst Harnessing Opportunities to Create a Digital Culture
- Aspects of the Long-Term Preservation of Digitized Catalogue Data: Analysis of the Databases of Integrated Collection Management Systems
- Preliminary Evaluation of the Terrestrial Laser Scanning Survey of the Subterranean Structures at Hagia Sophia
- Co-Constructing Digital Archiving Practices for Community Heritage Preservation in Egypt and Iraq
- Book Review
- Jeanne Drewes: Advancing Preservation for Archives and Manuscripts
