Inside the Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia was the Roman Empire's first Christian Cathedral from 537 to 1453. In 1453, the Turks took over Constantinople (renamed it Istanbul) and converted the cathedral into a mosque. Today it is a museum. Here you can see evidence of this history with the recovered Virgin Mary over the first dome. In the top right corner you can see an angel that was painted over during the time it was converted into a mosque. In Islam pictures of people/God are not created for religious reasons, so they covered the original paintings when they changed it to a mosque. The circular hanging banners were also added during its days as a mosque and remain today. Finally, in the left you can see evidence of the scaffolding as the museum works to preserve this amazing building.