Traveling in Istanbul, Turkey

September 09, 2009 :: Posted by - Travel Troll :: Category - Buildings

I would highly recommend stopping to see the Hagia Sophia the next time you are in Istanbul, Turkey.

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!