In 2019, I initiated a project to create a digital resource on the graffiti inscriptions and drawings of Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) in Constantinople (Istanbul). My main goal was to present this magnificent first-hand historical material, which we are losing piece by piece, in an accessible way and to share this data with the world through a digital platform.

  The first time I encountered the graffiti, namely the so-called “Inscription of Tărnovo” from 1552, was in 1991. Between 1994 and 1996, I encountered those of Fedor, Ivan, and Kozma on “the relics of the Lord’s Passion”. From 2005 onwards, I began studying the graffiti annually, prioritizing the search and documentation of Cyrillic inscriptions as well as graffiti in other languages (Greek and Latin) and, of course, graffiti drawings inside Hagia Sophia Cathedral. The truth is that what the ordinary visitor sees today in Hagia Sophia is only a small part of what this monument has to offer and the stories it can tell. Part of its richness has been irretrievably lost, while another—its inscriptions and drawings—are subject to conscious or unconscious erasure by the hands and bodies of modern “pious” visitors.

  Therefore, instead of looking at the mosaics and the incredible decorative embellishments, I searched the corners, along the ledges, the paneling, the balustrades and underneath, into the dark niches, searching for graffiti. My frequent movements—squatting, half-squatting, kneeling, etc.—often made me a laughingstock to bystanders—to the point where one day a veiled lady slapped the marble slab under my nose and enlightened me: “It’s marble, you dummy!”. But what I could see remained invisible to the others, who wisely concluded from the more obvious inscriptions that it was “another fool who wrote his name like this…”.

  Because the time for the direct study of the graffiti is limited due to their large number, ongoing restoration work, and the constant flow of visitors, the inscriptions must be photographed so they can be studied in office conditions. The next step is to document the inscription by creating a digital image, followed by the compilation of a catalog and publication. This difficult task through (not-so-easy) fieldwork took about ten years (2005–2015).

  In accordance with the current regulations in Ayasofya, which permit only “observing and photographing,” I used digital photography with the Pentax Optio A10 and Sony Cyber Shot DSC-RX100 cameras. The lenses of these two models largely compensated for the prohibition on using a tripod and additional lighting. I overcame the lighting challenges by photographing the graffiti from various angles under different conditions—both natural and artificial light at different times of the day and year.

  During each fieldwork session, the recorded data exceeded 30 GB, saved in RAW format. From the captured material, I selected the most complete and sharpest photos for the preparation of a redrawing aimed at improving readability by removing additional details (small squiggly lines, scribbles, etc.) that are irrelevant to the text and drawing, making them difficult to read and study. The redrawing is prepared using an image editing program in JPG format with layers and is then vectorized using Inkscape. Each drawing is checked on the spot—especially in cases where a disputed point in the reading needs to be clarified. But personal sketches made on the spot are also an invaluable aid.

  All inscriptions and drawings from Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) have been studied for inclusion in a database. The most laborious aspect of examining graffiti is their deciphering and dating. Deciphering is usually complicated by the poor preservation state of the graffiti—it is not uncommon to discover, after a year or two, that an inscription has been erased by the elbows and backsides of visitors. Deciphering is also made more difficult by the numerous scratch marks, cracks and irregularities in the marble, as well as additional scratches and abrasions over the centuries, both ancient and modern. Nevertheless, I have managed to decipher most of them. To date, the discovered and examined graffiti are as follows: Cyrillic graffiti inscriptions number 100 (95 published), those in Greek number about 400, those in Latin—150, 2 are in Armenian and 4 in Ottoman Turkish, and there are about 100 fragments of inscriptions consisting of separate letters and signs. A total of 200 graffiti drawings were recorded during my fieldwork in Istanbul between 2007 and 2014. Thematically, they encompass a wide variety of forms—from sailing ships, animals, birds, weapons, crosses, cultic symbols, a game board, coats of arms, and abstract geometrical patterns, to portraits of saints, angels, clerics, and laymen.[1] The most numerous are the ship graffiti and crosses. Many of the drawings are highly detailed and accurate, indicating that they have been sketched by skilled authors.

  By 2021, two corpora of inscriptions and drawings from the Church of Hagia Sophia had been published: T. Tomov, Nepoznatijat hram “Sv. Sofia”. Čast I. Nadpisi-grafiti na kirilica i glagolica, (vtoro, preraboteno i dopǎlneno izdanie), Sofia 2019 [Th. Thomov, The Unknown Temple of Hagia Sophia. Part I. Cyrillic and Glagolitic inscriptions graffiti, (second, enlarged and revised edition), Sofia 2019]; T. Tomov, Potajnostite na “Sv. Sofia”. Zabravenite korabi-grafiti i tehnite poslanija, Sofia 2021 [Th. Thomov, The Secrets of Hagia Sophia: The Forgotten Ship Graffiti and Their Messages, Sofia 2021]. The first corpus is a significant contribution to the field of Cyrillic epigraphy and includes 95 graffiti inscriptions. The second corpus represents a valuable resource for the study of shipping and shipbuilding and contains 54 ship graffiti[2]

  In parallel with this research, I began developing the website. All this compiled visual and written material is shared with the public via an interactive platform. The project, “The Unknown Hagia Sophia/Ayasofya: Graffiti-Inscriptions and Drawings,” is a living resource and can be continually updated with new data. I hope that this project will be a valuable resource for scholars in the field, students, and the wider public.

 

Prof. Thomas Thomov

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[1] For a complete and exhaustive bibliography on the subject of graffiti, inscriptions and drawings in Hagia Sophia see Th. Thomov, Notes on Graffiti-Inscriptions and Drawings in Hagia Sophia/Ayasofya: A Bibliographical Survey, Palaeobulgarica/ Cтаробългаристика XLV (2021) 111-123.

[2] For them see Thomov, Notes on Graffiti-Inscriptions and Drawings, 113.

* All pictures and materials on this site are © Thomas Thomov. You may use them for educational purposes by sending an e-mail about how you will use them. For all other purposes please contact me for terms & conditions.

** A full reference to this website must include the following: Thomas Thomov, The Unknown Hagia Sophia/Ayasofya: Graffiti-Iscriptions and Drawings: http://hagiasofiagraffiti.com/