 Although the despotic character of his measures is contrary to modern sensibilities , he was indeed a " nursing father " of the Church . Both the Codex and the Novellae contain many enactments regarding donations , foundations , and the administration of ecclesiastical property ; election and rights of bishops , priests and abbots ; monastic life , residential obligations of the clergy , conduct of divine service , episcopal jurisdiction , et cetera . Justinian also rebuilt the Church of Hagia Sophia ( which cost 20 @,@ 000 pounds of gold ) , the original site having been destroyed during the Nika riots . The new Hagia Sophia , with its numerous chapels and shrines , gilded octagonal dome , and mosaics , became the centre and most visible monument of Eastern Orthodoxy in Constantinople . 
