Hagia Sophia Converted To Museum

As a museum the hagia sophia was seen as a symbol of the secular nature of modern turkey.
Hagia sophia converted to museum. Hagia sophia was built as an orthodox christian cathedral and first converted into a mosque after the ottoman conquest nine centuries later. Turkish president recep tayyip erdoğan declared that the hagia sophia istanbul s iconic monument and a unesco world heritage site which is currently a museum is to be converted back into a mosque. Earlier this month erdogan formally declared that the iconic hagia sophia would be used as a mosque after a turkish court annulled a decision made in the 1930s that had converted it into a museum. The hagia sophia a major draw for tourists has a long and complicated history.
People visit the byzantine era hagia sophia one of istanbul s main tourist attractions in the historic sultanahmet district of istanbul on thursday june 25 2020. The architectural marvel was built as a church by the byzantines in the 6th century and then converted to a mosque. On 10 july 2020 the decision of the council of ministers to transform the hagia sophia into a museum was cancelled by the council of state decreeing that hagia sophia can be used only as a mosque and not for any other purpose. Prayers are set to begin on july 24 2020 with the mosaics showing christian icons covered by curtains or using lasers.
Pope francis stood in silence for several minutes at his weekly angelus prayer sunday after he talked about turkey s decision to convert the hagia sophia back into a mosque. The sultan converted the church of hagia sophia to the great mosque of aya sofya which it remained until 1934 when a decree by the turkish republic s first president mustafa kemal atatürk turned the building into a museum. While there was considerable excitement as crowds headed. Mustafa kemal atatürk the secular founder of the turkish republic turned the hagia sophia into a museum in 1934 in a symbolic break with the past but turkish islamists and nationalists have.
In 1934 atartuk ordered that the hagia sophia be converted into a museum.