Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia)

Hey all, this is the first of the set of pictures that I've taken at various historical landmarks in Istanbul. A few weeks ago, I went with some friends to visit Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia in English). Here is a short description from Wikipedia.com:

Hagia Sophia is a former patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Medieval Seville Cathedral in 1520.

The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 AD on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site (the previous two had both been destroyed by riots). It was designed by two architects, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The Church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 50 foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the patriarchal church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly 1000 years.

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over. The Islamic features - such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside - were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the secular Republic of Turkey.

For more information, you can go here.

And here are some pictures that I took there:



For more pictures, you can view the full album here.

I think that out of all of the places I've seen so far, this may have been the coolest. The place was huge, and it took probably an hour or so to fully explore everything. If I could have only seen one thing in Istanbul, I would have wanted it to be this.

Check back soon for more updates!