Explained: What is the Hagia Sophia?

News: Turkey’s highest court has allowed for the conversion of the nearly 1,500 year-old Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque.

Facts:

  • Hagia Sophia: It is the former Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal cathedral, later an Ottoman imperial mosque and now a museum located in Istanbul,Turkey.
  • It was built in 537 AD(Byzantine architecture) during the reign of Justinian 1, the Eastern Roman emperor.
  • Significance: It has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.