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Hagia Sophia

Amazing Places in Turkey

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Hagia Sophia is located in Istanbul, but it’s well worth its own place on this list. Hagia Sophia was originally built as a church and later transformed into a mosque. Its architecture is absolutely stunning, and it has inspired many other buildings.

Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya in Turkish) can be considered as the best and the most visited sights in Istanbul together with the neighboring Topkapi Palace. Hagia Sophia is a former church and museum and declared as one of the world’s greatest architectural works and accepted as the 8th wonder of the world.

Built as a church in 325, Hagia Sophia was rebuilt in 537 and was converted into a mosque by Fatih Sultan Mehmet after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453.

Serving as a museum since 1935, a decree on 10th of July 2020 to formally declare the Hagia Sophia as a mosque, after Turkey’s administrative court annulled a 1934-dated decision that paved the way for the use of Hagia Sophia as a museum.