FacebookLikeShareTweetEmail Türkiye and the wider Muslim world celebrate the fifth anniversary of the reconversion of the ...

Hagia Sophia was built as a church over a Roman temple, and was subsequently converted into a mosque and then a museum. Since 2020 it is used as a mosque once more.

People visit Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 13, 2025. Credit: AP/Emrah Gurel Visitors to the site expressed approval of the plan.

To suggest to the world not only Islam’s superiority but also that the Ottomans were the true heirs of the Romans, Mehmed converted Hagia Sophia to a mosque — but kept its original name.

He converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque. - Photo 12/Universal Images Group/Getty Images The Turkish government controversially converted the building back into a mosque in 2020.

Hagia Sophia was built as a church over a Roman temple, and was subsequently converted into a mosque and then a museum. Since 2020 it is used as a mosque once more. Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty Images ...

To suggest to the world not only Islam’s superiority but also that the Ottomans were the true heirs of the Romans, Mehmed converted Hagia Sophia to a mosque — but kept its original name.

To suggest to the world not only Islam’s superiority but also that the Ottomans were the true heirs of the Romans, Mehmed converted Hagia Sophia to a mosque — but kept its original name.