The Hagia Sophia was commissioned by which emperor of the Byzantine Empire?

The story behind the answer

Justinian I commissioned the Hagia Sophia after the Nika Riots of 532, determined to showcase imperial power and piety. Built astonishingly fast (532–537) under architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, its vast central dome became a marvel of late antique engineering and the crown of Byzantine sacred architecture.

“Hagia Sophia” means “Holy Wisdom,” and it served as the principal cathedral of Constantinople before later becoming a mosque and then a museum. Memory tip: “Justinian built it just in time after the riots”—Justinian = “Just in.” The other emperors don’t fit: Arcadius and Theodosius II were earlier (an earlier church on the site burned), and Constantine IV reigned much later.