The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Friday, said that the Hagia Sophia, one of the world’s most beautiful architectural creations, would be reopened for Muslim worship and converted into a mosque.
The decision has left the Christain community angry as the UNESCO site in Istanbul was first constructed as a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
Also Read: Want To Stay At World’s First Gold-Plated Hotel? Here’s How Much You Will Have To Pay
The Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative court, unanimously cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision to turn it into a museum. The cabinet asserted that Hagia Sophia was registered as a mosque in its property deeds. The Hagia Mosque has been a museum since 1935 welcoming people of all faiths from around the world.
The decision has not only spewed anger against Turkey from not only the Christian community but also UNESCO.
While that is a different story altogether, but it doesn’t take away the fact the wonderful creation that Hagia Sophia is. And the pictures of its interior say it all. Have a look.
People in Turkey have always wanted Hagia Sophia to be reopened as a mosque. But that fact that it was first constructed as a cathedral shouldn’t be ignored as it can ignite community rivalry among people of differnet faiths.
