The Ottomans turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 1453 when they took Constantinople. Now it is a public museum and a highlight of any visit to Istanbul. Take a tour with the slideshow above.

Reporting from Istanbul, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu said the decree [Ergodan’s] was not a surprise as Erdogan had previously stated that he would like to see Hagia Sophia open for Muslim ...

The Hagia Sophia and Chora decisions are thought to be an effort by Erdoğan to appeal to Muslim voters after the president’s party, AK, lost the Istanbul mayoral election in 2019.

James C. is in Istanbul now, making a pilgrimage to the Hagia Sophia itself. I had the blessing of being there in 2006. It was one of the greatest privileges of my life.

Karima Bennoune, a law professor, was appointed as Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights by the United Nations Human Rights Council in October 2015. She voiced her opinion on Hagia Sophia ...

The transformation of the Greek Hagia Sophia Cathedral into the Turkish Ayasofya Mosque did not take place gently. Fergus M. Bordewich describes the brutal shift that took place 564 years ago today: ...

Gli, the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque's favourite feline resident, has died at the age of 16. Whenever we visited Hagia Sophia, Gli would always look stunning and beautiful. We will miss her.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Friday that Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia would become a mosque once again, brushing aside a legacy of Turkey’s secularizing modern founder ...