Istanbul, a cacophonous metropolis that straddles East and West, is home to more than 3,000 mosques. One of these, Hagia Sophia, is the city’s star attraction. It began life as a Christian ...

The Ottomans turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 1453 when they took Constantinople. Now it is a public museum and a highlight of any visit to Istanbul. Take a tour with the slideshow above.

The Hagia Sophia was officially reclassified as a mosque in 2020 and has remained as a mosque to this day. Muslims were seen performing noon prayer in front of the Hagia Sophia on Aug. 8, 2020.

Turkey's Erdogan formally designates Hagia Sophia as a mosque 02:17. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday formally reconverted Istanbul's sixth-century iconic Hagia Sophia into a ...

Istanbul, located on the shores of the Bosphorus, is one of the most popular tourist cities in the world. It is full of white ...

Erdoğan had long refused calls from his right to convert churches like Hagia Sophia and Chora, telling supporters in 2019 to fill the nearby Sultan Ahmet Mosque (also known in English as the Blue ...

This aerial photograph shows scaffolds installed on the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul on April 14, 2025. Its imposing dome, ... The interior is for now free of any scaffolding.

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.

Muslims attend Friday prayers outside the newly inaugurated Kariye Mosque, formerly Chora Church, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 10, 2024. (RNS photo/David I. Klein) ...