The Aya Sofia (also Haghia Sophia) is a mosque nowadays. After having been a museum for over 80 years, on July 10, a Turkish court annulled a 1934 cabinet decree, which had turned Istanbul's Hagia Sophia into a museum. Hence I transfer this gallery to the (non-Sinan) Istanbul mosques. Probably some text on my huge site will refer to it as a museum for a while, I'll edit that out as I find proper.

It was founded as a church on a place where earlier another church stood. That was inaugurated on 15-2-360 during the reign of Constantius, son of Constantine the Great. That one was set alight and burned. During the Nika-uprising in 532 the Great Church, started under Theodosius II, which was the next church on that place, was also destroyed. Remains of that church can be seen at the West of the current church. That was built in 5 years and inaugurated by Justinian on 27-12-537, with the words “Praise the Lord who found me worthy to finish this project. Salomon, I have surpassed you.” (in Greek, I suppose). After Mehmet the Conqueror took the city in 1453 he had the church transferred into a mosque. The mosaics were covered with whitewash. In 1934 they were uncovered. For a long time the dome has been invisible due to restoration work. IN august 2010 the focus of restoration changed, see for instance an article about "new" angel mosaics that were uncovered during restoration. You may want to compare the pictures with Little Aya Sofia (no mosaics), Kariye Church, Pammakaristos Church, or with those of Cappadocia Churches at Göreme Open Air Museum. You may also want to see the Sultans' mausolea that are on the same grounds but (in December 2009 at least) a different entrance.

The Turkish government site for a change is quite good on this subject, with images where you can yourself handle you point of view and what to look at (resolution is OK). Quick Time required. Navigation is intuitive. They give a good feel of what a visit might be like. A couple of presentations of my pictures with music and some visual effects first one, second one have been prepared by some admirer.

Ayasofya (Haghia Sophia) günümüzde bir camidir. Öncesinde başka bir kilisenin bulunduğu bir yere inşa edildi. Büyük Konstantin’in oğlu Konstantius döneminde, 15.02.360 tarihinde törenle açıldı. Bu kilise yandı. II. Theodosius döneminde aynı yerde açılan diğer kilise, 532’de Nika isyanı sırasında harap edildi. Bu kiliseden kalanlar şimdiki kilisenin batı bölümünde görülebilir. Son olarak Ayasofya Kilisesi 5 yılda inşa edildi ve Justinian tarafından 27.12.537’de “Beni bu projeyi bitirmeye layık gören Tanrý’ya şükürler olsun. Salamon, seni geçtim!” sözleriyle açıldı (sanırım Yunanca). Fatih Sultan Mehmet 1453’te şehri aldıktan sonra kiliseyi bir camiye dönüştürdü. Mozaikler, badanayla kapatıldı.

Türkçe çeviri: Melek Emir. Katkılarından dolayı teşekkür ederim.