During the Nika revolt in 532, the great stone cathedral called the Hagia Sophia, was destroyed. Justinian took this as an opportunity to build a monument to his reign, and to honor God (William Rosen-101). A story is told Justinian had a dream and he saw a man. The man had a large silver plate that contained an engraving of the church that would be re-built. Justinian told the man, "If I had this plate, I would use it as a model for my church" (William Rosen-103).
This is the floor plan for the bottom floor of the Hagia Sophia. Justinian had a very effective way of building it in half the time it would normally take. Justinian had a crew of 10,000 people. He split the crew in half and put 5,000 on one side and 5,000 on the other. He then made the building procedure a competition to see which side could build their half faster. Today the Hagia Sophia still stands in modern day Constantinople. It is a historical monument from this time in the Byzantine Empire.
This is the floor plan for the bottom floor of the Hagia Sophia. Justinian had a very effective way of building it in half the time it would normally take. Justinian had a crew of 10,000 people. He split the crew in half and put 5,000 on one side and 5,000 on the other. He then made the building procedure a competition to see which side could build their half faster. Today the Hagia Sophia still stands in modern day Constantinople. It is a historical monument from this time in the Byzantine Empire. 
