Hagia Sophia was the most popular museum in Turkey last year, drawing more than 3.7 million visitors. News reports have said the conversion could occur in time for prayers on July 15, when Turkey ...

“Like the Hagia Sophia, this is an important mosque for Muslims,” the agency quoted Istanbul resident Cuma Er as saying. “We came here to pray after we learned about the decision.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The president of Turkey on Friday formally converted Istanbul’s sixth-century Hagia Sophia back into a mosque and declared it open for Muslim worship, hours after a high ...

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.

Religious and political leaders are decrying Turkey's decision to make Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, known for its Christian origin and as the secular Muslim nation's most popular tourist site, into a ...

The president of Turkey has formally converted Istanbul’s sixth-century Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, hours after a high court annulled a 1934 decision that had made the religious landmark a ...

S eraffettin was at home under coronavirus ­lockdown on May 29 when a Muslim cleric recited Quranic verses atop a carpeted dais inside Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia museum. But the imam’s reading ...

ISTANBUL, Turkey — In its more than 1,400-year existence, the majestic domed structure of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has served as the Byzantine Empire’s main cathedral, a mosque under the ...

Originally a cathedral, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque after Istanbul’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire but had been a museum for the last 86 years, drawing millions of tourists annually.

The decision sparked deep dismay among Orthodox Christians. Originally a cathedral, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque after Istanbul's conquest by the Ottoman Empire but had been a museum for ...

IZMIR, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Friday issued a decree ordering the Hagia Sophia, a majestic 65,000-square-foot stone structure from the sixth century in Istanbul, to ...

Built as a church and repurposed during its 1,500‑year history as a mosque, a museum and now a mosque once more, the Hagia ...