ISTANBUL, June 27. /TASS/. Turkish historian and professor Ilber Ortayli has called for restricting tourists and worshippers' access to Istanbul's Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (formerly the Church of ...

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Share a favourite under-the-radar spot in Turkey – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break ...

The Hagia Sophia Mosque is expected to serve as a spiritual and cultural hub for Muslims in Paris, promoting Islamic teachings, interfaith dialogue, and communal harmony at a time when religious ...

Turkish budget airline, Pegasus, has just announced direct flights from London Stansted to two ancient cities: Gaziantep and Kayseri. This comes as popular destinations like Antalya, Bodrum, and ...

If your idea of a perfect holiday is traditional culture, ancient ruins and decadent cuisine, then listen up.

BBC presenter Simon Reeve has travelled to more than 130 countries during his career - and there's one city that he loves more than anywhere else ...

The city and the church were sacked and desecrated, many golden mosaics were taken back to Italy, and Dandolo was buried at Hagia Sophia after his death in 1205 CE. 9. THE CHURCH BECAME A MOSQUE ...

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 ...

Today, Hagia Sophia is one of the world’s most extraordinary mosques — but it’s more than that. It’s also a symbol, a cultural phenomenon, and a monument.

Turkey has begun a new phase in sweeping restorations of the nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, focusing on preserving the monument’s historic domes from the threat of earthquakes.