HAGIA SOPHIA MEANS “HOLY WISDOM” IN LATIN

USE TO BE A CHURCH THEN A MOSQUE THEN A MUSEUMIT DATES BACK TO 360 AD. IT WAS BUILT ON THE

INSTRUCTION OF BYZANTINE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

FROM 360 TO 1453 IT WAS A CHURCH. AT THE BEGINNING OF ITS CONSTRUCTION IT WAS THE LARGEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD.

IT REMAINED THE WORLD’S LARGEST CATHEDRAL FOR ANOTHER 100O YEARS . IN 1453 SULTAN MEHMET II

ORDERED THE BUILDING TO BE A MOSQUE.

THE BELLS,ALTAR,ICONOSTASIS, VESSELS WERE REMOVED. THE MOSAICS WERE PLASTERED OVER.

ISLAMIC FEATURES ADDED SUCH AS MIHRAB(SHOWS WHICH DIRECTION PEOPLE NEED TO PRAY, MINBAR(WERE IMAM SPEAKS),

AND 4 MINARETS.

HAS 40 WINDOWS AROUND THE BASE OF THE DOME. IT IS FAMOUS FOR THE MYSTICAL QUALITY OF LIGHT.

THE DOME IS SHAPED LIKE THE INSIDE OF AN UMBRELLA WITH RIBS THAT EXTEND FROM ITS TOP DOWN TO ITS BACK.

IT WAS A MOSQUE FOR ABOUT 500 YEARS.

SERVED AS A MODEL FOR THE BLUE MOSQUE

IT WAS IN 1935 THAT THE FIRST TURKISH PRESIDENT – MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATURK CONVERTED THE MOSQUE

INTO A MUSEUM.

BUILT FROM 1609 TO 1616 DURING THE RULE OF AHMED I.

BLUE FOR THE BLUE TILES ON THE WALLS