Hagia Sofia officially re-opened Friday as a mosque after serving as a holy place of both Christianity and Islam before becoming a museum Hagia Sofia was officially opened as a mosque with Friday ...

ISTANBUL (AP) — In its more than 1,400-year existence, the majestic domed structure of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has served as the Byzantine Empire’s main cathedral, a mosque under the Ottoman ...

Like Hagia Sofia, it had been converted into a mosque during the Ottoman period. Per the court’s ruling, it “cannot be used except for its essential function,” Foreign Policy reports.

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Turkey is located near two fault lines, leaving the 1,500-year-old structure vulnerable to damage. Architects and engineers ...