Hagia Sofia: Once Spectacular
532-537 AD
532 532
29.00E41.00N
ARC

ISTANBUL, TURKEY
	Though Hagia Sofia is interesting from the outside, it is impressive from the inside, and once it was spectacular.
	Before Constantinople was conquered by the Turks, Hagia Sofia was a church. The huge domed interior was covered with brightly colored and polished mosaics, topped with golden domes, and decorated with colorful curtains, polished marble and stonework, some from as far away as the Atlantic coast of France.
	During the daytime the sunlight shown through the windows ringing the great dome. At night the interior of the church blazed with thousands of candelabra and lamps whose light reflected off the polished surfaces.
	When Constantinople was taken over by the Turks, Sultan Muhammed II converted the church into a mosque, replacing the cross with a crescent and removing other Christian symbols.
	For a while the mosaics remained exposed, but eventually they were covered with whitewash.