By Nilay Kar
The Hagia Sophia, Istanbul's most visited tourist attractions, is among the prominent surviving monuments in the world. Designed as a Christian basilica in the 6th century by Anthemios of Tralles and Isidoros of Miletus, it was chosen as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
The building - with its 31m diameter dome - was the world’s most spectacular church for centuries and has been called “the 8th wonder of the world” by art historians. The Byzantines compared it to heaven itself.
The current "Hagia Sophia," located on the peninsula of Sultanahmet, was constructed three times, first being inaugurated in 537 by the orders of Byzantine Emperor Justinian.
It was the center of Orthodox Christianity until 1453, when the city was conquered by Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmet II. After 916 years, he ordered the main church's conversion into a mosque.
The Hagia Sophia, where the first Friday prayer was performed following the conquest, was used as a mosque for 482 years and became a jewel for the Muslim world. It was elevated as the highest ranking place of worship in the Ottoman Empire, becoming known as the "Great Mosque."
It was converted into a museum in 1935 following the Ottoman Empire's collapse.
- Debates over re-establishing Hagia Sophia as a mosque
Currently a museum, the Hagia Sophia attracts around three million visitors annually, but there are intense debates over re-establishing the monument as a mosque.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc recently expressed his desire for such by saying, “We are looking at this sombre Hagia Sofia and wishing its happy days will come soon.”
Several tourists interviewed on the square before the Hagia Sophia expressed different views about the Hagia Sophia's status.
"If it is a museum or a mosque, it is fine. It is the same. I don't think it will make any difference," Alawie al-Cafery from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) told Anadolu Agency (AA).
American John Stean expressed different views by saying, "I think it should stay as a museum to honor the two religions - Christianity and Islam. You have the nice mosques around here. So if you ask me, I will say no."
"It [Hagia Sophia] has a very nice look. I hope it will a be mosque in the future," Ibrahim Kabon from UAE said on the subject.
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