Turkey
Istanbul
Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia, when built, was the largest Christian church in the world.  It  was converted to a mosque in 1453 by the Ataturk, Mehmet II.  It is now a museum.

 The first Hagia Sophia was built by Emperor Constantine the Great in the fourth century.  In time , it was destroyed, then rebuild and then burned down.  The present Hagia Sophia was built between 532 and 537 under the close attention of Emperor Justinian I.

Hagia Sophia remained a church until 1453, in that year Sultan Mehmet  converted it into an imperial mosque.

Hagia Sofia was made into a museum in 1935 by the first Turkish president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.  In the process, covered marble floors and mosaics were revieled for the first time in centuries.

Cappadocia:        Ankara        Hattusa        Ozkonak        Uchisar        Yazilikaya
Istanbul:        Around Town        Blue Mosque        Hagia Sophia        Topkapi Palace
South Coast:        Antalya        Aspendos        Myra & Demre        Perge        Xanthos
South West Inland:        Konya        Aphrodisias        Pamukkale        Sagalassos        Sardis
West Coast:   Izmir    Assos    Didyma    Ephesus    Gallipoli    Miletus    Pergamum    Priene    Troy

Pictures by Tom Aprille                                            Return