Hagia Sophia
Its current iteration (above), now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built in 537 as the cathedral of Constantinople under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, Hagia Sophia (Greek for "Holy Wisdom") was turned into a mosque by the Ottomans when they conquered the city 1453 and remained one until 1935, when it became a museum. The vast interior can hold up to 4,000 and among other elements features 107 massive columns; huge wooden roundels with Arabic calligraphy, added during a 19th-century renovation, as well as gorgeous Byzantine Christian mosaics, which were obviously allowed to remain.
Sultan Ahmed
This city's other best known mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque because of the more than 21,000 blue-and-white Iznik tiles used inside, was completed in 1617 right across from Hagia Sophia. Some people think that this imposing edifice, with its six tall, fluted minarets and five domes, was the last great mosque built during the classical period.
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