Aya Sofia,
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Besides being the business centre of modern Turkey and one of the very few cities in two continents, Istanbul also owes its fame under its previous name Constantinople. Constantinople was the last stronghold of the Roman empire and the capital of Christianity. The Aya Sofia was built in the 6th century to be the grandest church in the world. When the Ottoman Turks conquered the city in 1453, the Aya Sofia was converted into a mosque.
After turning the church into a mosque, the may mosaics were plastered over - Islam does not allow images. Some of these mosaics survived. Ad of course - minarets were added. Atatürk realized the importance of this curiosity and turned the mosque into a museum. Entering Aya Sofia, your eyes first have to get used to the darkness, and when they are, you can start exploring the ceilings, the domes, the hidden corners.
You can see Islam symbols, the word Allah calligraphed on huge placards, side by side with Christian images and crosses. The main dome was under repair when I visited - which it has been for years already. I thought it was a pity that there were not many lights which makes enjoying the beauties a little hard at times. When the few lights were switched off at closing time, one by one the marvels were taken away completely from eyesight.
