The Hagia Sophia church was started in 532, often referred to as the Church of Holy Wisdom. Surprisingly it took only five measly years to complete- which is a miracle for its size and detailed architecture. For more than a thousand years, Hagia Sophia was the largest and grandest church in the world. When Sultan Mehmet II converted it into a mosque, the loss devastated Orthodox Christians who had previously worshiped there. Hagia Sophia’s design impressed the Ottomans greatly, that resulted in a duplicated design in other mosques throughout the empire. In 1935, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, declared the church to be a modern museum. Since then, workers have started to restore mosaics and such to maintain the structure and beauty of the building.

This church has loads of history and amazing architecture- don’t miss out on seeing it for yourself!

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia