The Hagia Sophia, located in Istanbul, Turkey, is a major historical and artistic monument famous for having been used by different religions. The UNESCO World Heritage Site was originally ...

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is about to get a makeover. In light of recent earthquakes in Turkey, experts fear the 1,500-year-old mosque is structurally vulnerable, and the Turkish government has ...

The current Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century when Constantinople — as Istanbul was then called — was the heart of the Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire that emerged as Ancient Rome ...

People visit Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 13, 2025. Credit: AP/Emrah Gurel Visitors to the site expressed approval of the plan.

It was a project close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's heart - but also one that was met with international criticism. In the summer of 2020, Erdoğan converted Istanbul's Hagia ...

In 1261, the Hagia Sophia returned to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Less than 200 years later, in 1453, Mehmet II’s Ottomans came charging into Constantinople (now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople).

The current Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century when Constantinople — as Istanbul was then called — was the heart of the Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire that emerged as Ancient Rome ...

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey has begun a new phase in sweeping restorations of the nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, focusing on preserving the monument's historic domes from the threat ...