They say that if walls could talk, each building would have a story to tell,
听说，如果墙壁会讲话，每一栋建筑物都会诉说自己的故事，
but few would tell so many fascinating stories in so many different voices as the Hagia Sophia, or holy wisdom.
但是，能用各式各样的声音讲述不同故事的恐怕非圣索菲亚大教堂（史称君士坦丁堡）莫属。
Perched at the crossroads of continents and cultures,
站在州与州、文化与文化的交界，
it has seen massive changes from the name of the city where it stands, to its own structure and purpose.
她见证了很多重大改变，从她身处城市的名字到本身建筑结构和用途。
And today, the elements from each era stand ready to tell their tales to any visitor who will listen.
今天，成就她的每一个特点，都准备好跟愿意倾听的来访者诉说自己的故事了。
Even before you arrive at the Hagia Sophia, the ancient fortifications hint at the strategic importance of the surrounding city,
即便你还没踏进君士坦丁堡，她周边古老的防御工事已暗示了她所在的城市在军事上曾是那么重要，
founded as Byzantium by Greek colonists in 657 BCE.
希腊人于公元前657年在这里定居，并把这片土地叫做拜占庭。
And successfully renamed as Augusta Antonia, New Rome and Constantinople
在往后几百年里，她的名字也从奥古斯塔安东尼亚变成新罗马，再变成康斯坦丁堡，
as it was conquered, reconquered, destroyed and rebuilt by various Greek, Persian and Roman rulers over the following centuries.
那是因为她经过了希腊、波斯以及罗马统治者接连几个世纪不断的侵占、破坏以及重建所致。
And it was within these walls that the first Megale Ekklesia, or great church, was built in the fourth century.
就是在这重重围墙里，第一所马格拉阿拉斯亚， 即“大教堂”，于四世纪建成了。
Though it was soon burned to the ground in riots,
尽管不久后，她在暴乱中夷为平地，
it established the location for the region's main religious structure for centuries to come.
“大教堂”的位置成为未来几百年该地兴建主要宗教建筑的地点。
Near the entrance, the marble stones with reliefs are the last reminders of the second church.
在入口附近，刻有浮雕的大理石是第二间教堂的遗迹。
Built in 415 CE, it was destroyed during the Nika Riots of 532
这座教堂于公元415年兴建，于532年的尼卡暴动中毁于一旦，
when angry crowds at a chariot race nearly overthrew the emperor, Justinian the First.
当时，愤怒的群众在一场双轮马车竞技中几乎推翻了皇帝查士丁尼一世。
Having barely managed to retain power, he resolved to rebuild the church on a grander scale,
好不容易保住皇位的他，决定把教堂建造得更加辉煌宏大，
and five years later, the edifice you see before you was completed.
五年后，我们眼前这建筑奇迹终于完工。
As you step inside, the stones of the foundation and walls murmur tales from their homelands of Egypt and Syria,
当我们走进里面，堆砌地基和墙壁的石头向我们轻诉家乡埃及和叙利亚的传说；
while columns taken from the Temple of Artemis recall a more ancient past.
而取自阿尔忒弥斯神庙的石柱则在回忆更古老的过去。
Runic inscriptions carved by the Vikings of the emperor's elite guard carry the lore of distant northern lands.
皇帝的菁英守卫刻下那些神秘的维京语铭文，为我们传递那遥远北岸的传说。
But your attention is caught by the grand dome, representing the heavens.
但是，我们的目光总会停留在那代表天堂的壮丽穹顶。
Reaching over 50 meters high and over 30 meters in diameter and ringed by windows around its base,
穹顶高50米，直径30米以上，有多扇窗户环绕基底，
the golden dome appears suspended from heaven, light reflecting through its interior.
金黄的圆顶像从天堂悬挂下来，穿插进来的光线在教堂内部反射。
Beneath its grandiose symbolism, the sturdy reinforcing Corinthian columns,
在这浮华的象征底下，坚实的科林斯支柱，
brought from Lebanon after the original dome was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 558 CE,
在公元558年的一次地震后从黎巴嫩运来，用以加固圆顶，因为原来的穹顶有一部分被地震损坏，
quietly remind you of its fragility and the engineering skills such a marvel requires.
这些柱子的存在，轻轻地提醒我们它的脆弱以及建造这建筑奇迹背后所需的工程技术。
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the mosaics from the next several centuries have the most to say not only about their Biblical themes,
如果一幅画胜过千言万语，那么这里晚几个世纪出现的镶嵌画可说的就更多了，这些画不但有圣经主题，
but also the Byzantine emperors who commissioned them, often depicted along with Christ.
还有委托制作这些作品的拜占庭皇帝，这些皇帝都伴随基督出现在画中。

But beneath their loud and clear voices, one hears the haunting echoes of the damaged and missing mosaics and icons,
不过在他们嘹亮的声音背后，我们听到损毁或遗失的镶嵌画和画里圣像，
desecrated and looted during the Latin Occupation in the Fourth Crusade.
在第四次十字军东征的拉丁侵占时被亵渎、被掠夺所回响的萦绕心头、令人神伤的声音。
Within the floor, the tomb inscription of Enrico Dandolo, the Venetian ruler who commanded the campaign,
地板之下，是刻上恩里科·丹多洛名字的坟墓，即负责指挥这次战役的威尼斯指挥官，
is a stark reminder of those 57 years that Hagia Sophia spent as a Roman Catholic church
它的存在鲜明的提醒访客，在那57年间君士坦丁堡被用作罗马天主教堂，
before returning to its orthodox roots upon the Byzantine Reconquest.
后来才在拜占庭重夺该地后回归原本东正教的根。
But it would not remain a church for long.
但是，它作为教堂的日子没有很久。
Weakened by the Crusades, Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and would be known as Istanbul thereafter.
几次十字军东征削弱了它所在的城市康斯坦丁堡，1453年，该地最后败在奥斯曼帝国的手上，并从此名为伊斯坦堡。
After allowing his soldiers three days of pillage, Sultan Mehmed the Second entered the building.
在允许士兵三日三夜的洗劫后，苏丹穆罕默德二世进入君士坦丁堡教堂。
Though heavily damaged, its grandeur was not lost on the young sultan
尽管教堂被严重损坏，但在这位年轻苏丹的眼中它气势犹存，
who immediately rededicated it to Allah, proclaiming that it would be the new imperial mosque.
于是他就立刻把教堂重新献给阿拉，宣布它将是新的御用清真寺。
The four minarets built over the next century are the most obvious sign of this era,
四座宣礼塔在之后一个世纪建成，他们成为该世纪最明显的印记，
serving as architectural supports in addition to their religious purpose. But there are many others.
不但拥有宗教作用，还在建筑上起了承托的功效。不过除此之外的特色还有很多。
Ornate candle holders relate Suleiman's conquest of Hungary,
譬如华丽的烛台诉说苏莱曼一世攻占匈牙利的故事，
while giant caligraphy discs hung from the ceiling remind visitors for the first four caliphs who followed Muhammad.
从教堂顶部悬挂下来的伊斯兰书法巨盘，提醒人们继承穆罕默德的最初四位统治者。
Though the building you see today still looks like a mosque, it is now a museum,
虽然今天我们所见的君士坦丁堡仍然像一座清真寺，但它现在已经变为博物馆了，
a decision made in 1935 by Kemal Ataturk, the modernizing first president of Turkey following the Ottoman Empire's collapse.
在1935年做出这个决定的是凯末尔·阿塔蒂而克，他是在奥斯曼帝国倒下后现代土耳其的第一任总统。
It was this secularization that allowed for removal of the carpets
正因为这样的转变使得人们能收起铺在大理石地板上的装饰地毯，
hiding the marble floor decorations and the plaster covering the Christian mosaics.
以及移除遮盖基督教鑲嵌画的石膏。
Ongoing restoration work has allowed the multiplicity of voices in Hagia Sophia's long history to be heard again after centuries of silence.
持续不断的修复，让君士坦丁堡长远的历史里各种各样的声音在好几世纪的沉默后得以被人们听见。
But conflict remains. Hidden mosaics cry out from beneath Islamic calligraphy,
但是，冲突依然继续。隐藏在伊斯兰书法下的鑲嵌画大声呼喊，
valuable pieces of history that cannot be uncovered without destroying others.
历史珍贵的片段无法在不毁灭彼此的情况下得以发掘。
Meanwhile, calls sound from both Muslim and Christian communities to return the building to its former religious purposes.
同时，伊斯兰和基督教组织都要求把建筑还原到它原来的宗教用途。
The story of the divine wisdom may be far from over,
这个天赐的智慧的故事可能离总结还有一段路，
but one can only hope that the many voices residing there will be able to tell their part for years to come.
不过我们只能祈求常驻那儿的许多声音，都能在未来的日子里讲述自己的故事。