We visited Hagia Sophia as part of Rick Steves "Best of Turkey in 13 Days" tour from March 28 to April 9, 2022 with tour guide, Yaren Türkoğlu. It was fantastic!

Yaren Instagram: @canyaren
Rick Steves Tours: [ Ссылка ]

Hagia Sophia was built in 537 as the Cathedral of Constantinople, and is said to have "changed the history of architecture" with its dome and Byzantine style. It was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman's took over the city in 1453. After the secular Republic of Turkey was established in 1935, it was transformed into a museum. Sadly, it was re-converted into a mosque in 2020 by the current conservative government.

Mosiacs from the time of Emperor Justin I (450-527)

The American Thomas Whittemore (1871-1950) was responsible for restoring mosaics in Hagia Sophia, it took about 18 years!

(Whitemore said,) "Hagia Sophia is a sphere of Light...It is the Universe of buildings, Holy Wisdom. It is what the world needs most and has lost."

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