Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey)

The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia (Άγια Σοφία in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish), is a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque in Istanbul. In 1935, president and founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, transformed the building into a museum. The carpets were removed and the marble floor decorations such as the Omphalion appeared for the first time in centuries, while the white plaster covering many of the mosaics was removed.

Ayasofya (İstanbul, Türkiye) — Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey

Order Digital Image 10.668 on A4 scale

آيا صوفيا (اسطنبول، تركيا) — Hagia Sophia or Aya Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey)

Order Digital Image 10.669 on A4 scale

Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Türkei)

Order Digital Image 10.670 on A4 scale

Haghia Sophia was in 2014 the second most visited museum in Turkey, attracting almost 3.3 million visitors annually. Although use of the complex as a place of worship (mosque or church) was strictly prohibited, in 2006 the Turkish government allowed the allocation of a small room in the museum complex to be used as a prayer room for Christian and Muslim museum staff, and since 2013 from the minarets of the museum the muezzin sings the call to prayer twice per day, in the afternoon.