Sacred Spaces

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Some of the most majestic — and most frequently visited — buildings in the world are sacred buildings.

Believers and tourists alike flock to sites like the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The glittering metals, the dazzling artwork, the symbolism, and the ritual combine to make us forget the world outside and think about deeper things.

Such places have captured the imagination of travelers for centuries.

Below is the famous Hagia Sophia church, built in the ancient city of Constantinople (now known as Istanbul).

Ibn Battuta was a 14th-century Muslim travler, who first saw Hagia Sophia church in the year 1332 AD.

Ibn Battuta spent most of his life traveling from place to place and describing his discoveries. In this lesson, you will take a virtual journey to some amazing places, including the Hagia Sophia, and you will write a description of your discoveries!

Make a list of some of the religious buildings you have either visited or that you know about. Share your list with someone and see how many they can add to the list.

• How would you describe the buildings you included in your list?
• What are the most lavish and important types of buildings in our own times?
• How does the way a building is constructed communicate beliefs, values, and principles?

In the Got It? section, you will take a virtual journey to some of the most mind-blowing buildings in the world. You will even get the chance to do something Ibn Battuta never got the chance to do: go inside the Hagia Sophia!