Hagia Sophia

An artist's impression of Hagia Sophia as it appeared before conversion to a mosque.

By Aussiegirl

Some interesting information on the breathtakingly beautiful Hagia Sophia, the holy shrine of ancient Christendom dating back to the 5th century, and often considered one of the wonders of the ancient world. Hagia Sophia has been in Moslem hands since the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Since then it has been converted to a mosque, and now a museum. As the article states, the Greek Orthodox church has been requesting restoration and preservation of its many priceless works of art, mosaics, icons and such, and even has demanded the return of the sacred shrine to the Orthodox religion as a condition of Turkey's entry in the the EU. You can read how sensitive Moslems are to the sensibilities of Christians when it comes to defacing or preserving one of their most sacred holy shrines.

Hagia Sophia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Church of the Holy Wisdom, commonly known as Hagia Sophia in English, is a former Eastern Orthodox church converted to a mosque, now converted into a museum, in Istanbul (Constantinople). It is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest buildings of the world and sometimes considered the Eighth Wonder of the World. Its loss to the Ottomans at the fall of Constantinople is considered one of the great tragedies of Christendom by the Greek Orthodox faith.