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Hagia Sophia
The Hagia Sophia (also, St. Sophia) is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica (Christian church), later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. It was built in 537. Its name means "Wisdom of God".
Until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople which was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Between 1204 and 1261, it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Holy Roman Empire. The building was converted into a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. Four great minarets were added. It was then secularized by the Turkish leader Atatük. In 1953 and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.
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