An Architectural Masterpiece - Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
The Church of the Divine Wisdom in Istanbul is one of the most impressive and important buildings ever constructed.
Its wide, flat dome was a daring engineering feat in the 6th century, and architects still marvel at the building's many innovations.
Called Hagia Sophia in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, Ayasofya in Turkish, it was built on the site of Byzantium's acropolis (map) by Emperor Justinian in 537 AD.
Ayasofya was the greatest church in Christendom, and was meant to be.
Justinian church remained the largest church ever built until St Peter's Basilica was constructed in Rome a thousand years later.
Being the world's most impressive building, it's no wonder that Mehmet the Conqueror proclaimed it a mosque soon after his conquest of the city from the Byzantines in 1453.
It served as Istanbul's most revered mosque until 1935 when Atatürk, recognizing its world-historical significance, had it proclaimed a museum, as it is now.
Although most of the building is still a museum, a room on the east side was opened in 2007 as a prayer-place (Ibadete Açık Kısmı), and the call to prayer is proclaimed from the minaret above it.
Ayasofya is awe-inspiring—one of the first things to see when you're in Istanbul.
