Aya Sofya, Istanbul, Turkey

Built between 532 and 537 AD on the remains of earlier churches, this building has endured an extremely chequered history. Originally constructed as a church by Byzantine Emperor Justinian, it was boasted as being the largest cathedral in the world, for nearly 1000 years. It was finally superseded only in 1520, by Seville ’s great cathedral. The church was well known for the huge dome on top, it also housed a large collection of holy relics.

In 1453 following the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, the church was converted into an enormous mosque.  The passage of time witnessed, the addition of many features one would expect to adorn a mosque, unfortunately though, many of the splendid original mosaics were also plastered over. 

Finally in 1935 the Republic of Turkey once again converted the use of this stately structure, this time into a museum. This is how it remains to this day.

An extremely important site in Istanbul and a definite “must see” for any visiting tourists to Istanbul.