Hagia Sophia is a monument which is an orthodox Christian now turned into a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. It’s built in 537 AD. Up to 1453, it was used as an orthodox church.
The only period in which it wasn’t used as it was during the Latin invasion when they turned it into a Catholic church. Because of its perfect positioning between two continents the church has been involved in many historical events. It has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt several times.
It was firstly destroyed from riots-it was destroyed to the ground. After that, it was rebuilt in 451 CE and after that again destroyed by the Nika riots-532. When this happened Justinian decided to rebuild it to a different level. He made it bigger and more beautiful. In 5 years it was ready and it looked like we can see it now. Going into the church gives us one spectacular sight but the first thing you will stare at will be the grand dome which represents the heaven. It is 50 meters from the ground and its diameter is 30 meter.
It has windows on its sides which makes it even more beautiful. The engineering skills with which it was all done were tested in 558 CE by an earthquake which partly destroyed the church but it has survived mostly. This proves the genius of the engineers which made that monument. Going deeper into the church you will see mosaics showing pictures of Jesus and some of the greatest Byzantine emperors. Some of the mosaics, icons, pictures, and treasures were stolen during the Latin occupation. On the floor, you can see the grave of Henricus Dandolo who commanded the campaign which is a great reminder of the 57 years in which the church was Catholic. After those times of glory after the Ottoman invasion, the monument was turned into a new Muslim imperial mosque. In this era were built the 4 minarets which are the most iconic change of it.
After all these years in which was used a holy place in 1935 it was turned into a museum. This event leads to restoring work which makes the monument even more realistic.
