Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia: It means illuminated or “holy wisdom.” It was officially converted into the Holy Hagia Sophia Mosque, where before that, it was a church, an ancient place of worship in Istanbul. Built in 537 as the patriarchal cathedral of the imperial capital of Constantinople, it was the largest Christian church in the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), and the Eastern Orthodox Church, except for the period of the Latin Empire from 1204 to 1261, when it became the city’s Roman Catholic cathedral. In 1453, after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, it was converted into a mosque. In 1935 the secular Turkish Republic founded it as a museum. In 2020, it reopened as a mosque, and became a destination for pilgrims from all over the world, due to its sanctity, the beauty of its sculptures, and its impressive monuments.

The Hagia Sophia is a world archaeological landmark that reflects the diversity of the cultural heritage of the city of Istanbul, which is located at the intersection of civilization between East and West, as it was throughout history the capital of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. It was listed by UNESCO in 1985 as one of the best heritage cities. The outer section contains the tombs of the sultans, the primary school, a waterfall, ablution taps, minarets, external supports, the treasury building, the poor house, and the Al-Fateh School. As for the inner section, it contains: (the central dome of Hagia Sophia, paintings, mosaic drawings, calligraphy panels, the mihrab, the pulpit, the Sultan’s room, the muezzin’s room, the library of Mahmoud I, the marble jars, the wish-column, and the Emperor’s Gate) and some other sections.