Posted on 12/04/2013 1:45:28 PM PST by SeekAndFind
It needs to be restored, not as a mosque but as a Christian Church. It was built as a church, and it was defaced by Muslim invaders. Some of the world’s most beautiful mosaics were desecrated and destroyed by these Muslim invaders as the Church was converted into a mosque.
The Blue Mosque was subsequently built right next to Hagia Sophia. In order to make evident its dominance over Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque was built with 6 minarets, not the usual four. Istanabul is full of mosques, many of them hundreds of years old and of beautiful architecture. There is no need to desecrate the Hagia Sophia once again.
As a side note, Hagia Sophia means Holy Wisdom. While it later became an Orthodox Cathedral, it was built in 537, hundreds of years before the Great Schism which split the Catholic Church into Roman (Latin) and Orthodox. Let us hope the day is not far off when the Latin and Orthodox Churches unite once again.
They can have it. I want christian converts!
It was made to give glory to God and it did - to give glory to God by inspiring the awe that God should in peoples hearts. We don’t need the building, we need to evangelize.
They’re just being thugs - really impressive to those Jesus cared about?
I pray this will not happen.
I saw it in ‘89, and at that point they had begun restorations. There were scaffolds everywhere and mosaics were being uncovered and repaired. The discs were up so I never got to see the crosses in person but I have seen them online. But I can tell you those winged heavenly creatures just knocked me out. 500 years of Muslim desecration couldn’t hide the holiness that hovered throughout that place. It was just breathtaking. My sweet host family showed me a lot of Turkey and nothing else even came close.
It would be just like islamists to undo so much work that their country JUST DID.
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