The Blue Dome’s Turkish connection

The Associated Press has a nice article about Tulsa’s historic Art Deco architecture, which recently made the cover of Preservation magazine.

But here’s something I didn’t know. The historic Blue Dome gas station, on an old alignment of Route 66 in downtown, was inspired by an ancient church in Turkey.

Route 66 fans have architectural landmarks in Tulsa, too, including the Blue Dome, originally a 24-hour Gulf Oil filling station, built in 1924 to serve drivers on the Mother Road. It’s now an anchor for the Blue Dome entertainment district near downtown Tulsa. The original retail portion of the station is occupied by Arnie’s Bar, a longtime Tulsa favorite “after-hours” venue, while the two-story bright blue dome is an art studio. Tulsa Foundation for Architecture’s executive director Lee Anne Zeigler says the Blue Dome slightly precedes the deco movement, and that its design was patterned after the Hagia Sophia in Turkey, which was built as a church 1,500 years ago and later became a mosque, then a museum.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the Hagia Sophia, take a look. There is a passing resemblance to the Blue Dome.

2 thoughts on “The Blue Dome’s Turkish connection

  1. Perhaps Zeigler said (or intended to say) that the Blue Dome in Tulsa was patterned after the traditional basilica dome, of which Hagia Sophia is one example. The basilica type of architecture is not uniquely Turkish.

  2. The Hagia Sophia was constructed by the Roman/Byzantine Emperor Justinian as a Christian Basilica 1000 years before the Turks converted it to a mosque.

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