Comparison Quotes
The Hagia Sophia was the greatest architectural and engineering enterprise of that era and remained so for centuries. The Church was so massive that there was a permanent city of 7000 people on the second level balconies with wide ramps so that horses and carts could go to the upper level. The dome was the largest unsupported dome for centuries and historians are still ignorant of exactly how it was constructed. It changed the history of architecture. The reference to Solomon referred to the building of the original Jewish Temple in Jerusalem which was up to then considered the greatest building ever constructed.
Although Reagan is reported to have said this on numerous occasions, no definitive citation has yet been found. The earliest reference to a similar quote is found in “The Consent of the Governed, and Other Deceits” (1971) by New York Times political analyst Arthur Krock in the chapter titled "The Second Oldest Profession.”
