"It thus was Constantius II who built the first great church of Hagia Sophia - although his father may have laid its foundations. Adjoining the church of Hagia Irene, which was largely Constantine’s work, the new church of the Holy Wisdom fronted on the Augustaeum. A stone basilica of medium size, roofed with timber, it had a nave and four aisles. This first structure was enclosed within a precinct wall, and recent excavations suggest that its orientation corresponded to that of the present church, which faces east with its entrance on the west.
The “great church,” as it came to be called even as it took shape before the eyes of the people, was inaugurated on February 15, 360, thirty years after the inauguration of the city."
Bust of Constantius II, son of Constantine.
