Its current iteration, 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.
Read more in Tripatini contributor Adnan Ijaz´post 10 of the World´s Most Magnificent Mosques.
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