[Original] Constantinople - Stamboul - Mosque Ste. Sophie [end]
The Sainte-Sophie Mosque is popularly called Hagia Sophia, and originally was known in Greek as the Church of the Holy Wisdom of God. Built in the 6th century, the huge cathedral housed a huge, 15 meter tall icon made of silver and numerous sacred relics.
When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in the 15th century, they turned the church into a mosque. Muslim features were added including the four minarets. In 1935 it was turned into a museum by the newly secular Turkish Republic.