What is the Hagia Sophia?

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Uploaded 17-09-19

The Hagia Sophia is a super famous building in Istanbul. Officially, at least according to the Turkish government, it is a museum. But it was originally built as a church and then was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. So what is it? Church, mosque, or museum?

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Thumbnail photo credit: Arild Vågen

Sources:
Erdogan and converting back to mosque: https://www.apnews.com/9d7a4644abb04b9788c1ba37ec71c4ac ; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-election-museum/turkeys-erdogan-says-he-plans-to-change-hagia-sophias-title-from-museum-to-mosque-idUSKCN1RA1ZB

Structural integrity of Hagia Sophia including Rob Ousterhout and Stephen Kelley quotes: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/a-monumental-struggle-to-preserve-hagia-sophia-92038218/

Bissera Pentcheva, Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017)

Eve Avdoulos, "Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia: Challenges of Managing Sacred Places"



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