The Great Conversion: Hagia Sophia Becomes a Mosque

Explore the dramatic transformation of Hagia Sophia after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Join Lucas and Luna as they uncover how Mehmed II converted the Byzantine cathedral into a mosque, from the first Friday prayers to the addition of minarets, mihrab, and minbar. They discuss the fate of the Christian mosaics, the symbolic role of the building in Ottoman imperial ideology, and its later secularization as a museum under Atatürk. Drawing on firsthand accounts and architectural evidence, this episode reveals how Hagia Sophia's identity has been continually reshaped by conquest, faith, and politics.

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