Free Republic

The Christian world is alarmed over the possibility ventilated in local media that Turkish Islamic Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan could convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia basilica, a symbol of Orthodox Christianity that is currently a museum, into a mosque in the coming months. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I reiterated his firm opposition to such a plan, Radikal newspaper and other media reported. ”We will oppose this, as will all Christians be they Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant”, he said at meeting with scholars on the eve of the Sinaxis, a summit of Orthodox churches kicking off Istanbul on Thursday. ”The Hagia Sophia basilica...

A mosque recently moved into a former church building on the northeast side of Wheaton, becoming what is believed to be the city's first Islamic institution. In late August, the Islamic Center of Wheaton bought and moved into the 26,193-square-foot former First Assembly of God Church at 900 E. Geneva Road, at the southwest corner of Geneva Road and President Street. Records show that, through a bank trust, the Islamic Center of Wheaton paid $3.15 million for the church and its 7.08-acre property. Mosque spokesman Abraham Antar said he and his fellow congregants are excited about their new home, which...

Members of the government of the Republic of Turkey have expressed consideration in turning a notable landmark that was once a church into a mosque. Hagia Sophia, originally built as a cathedral and presently a museum, may be turned into a mosque, recently commented Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc. "We are looking at a sad Hagia Sophia, but hopefully we will see it smiling again soon," said Arinc regarding the possible change. Such a possible move has garnered controversy both within Turkey and internationally, as many believe such a decision could put the country at odds with its generations...

Increasingly, rumours are circulating about the future transformation of the Cathedral of Saint Sophia into a mosque. This is worrisome because two other temples, also dedicated to Saint Sophia, were recently transformed from museums into mosques. The two churches in question are Hagia Sophia in Nicaea (Iznik), where the first ecumenical council was held, and Hagia Sophia in Trebizond (Trabzon). For the record, with the fall of Constantinople (1453), all of the city's churches were converted into mosques, but with the advent of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the most important monuments were turned into museums.Skylife, the free magazine handed...

One of the most important monuments of late Byzantium, the 13th-century Church of Hagia Sophia in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, which is now a museum, will be converted into a mosque, after a legal battle that has dramatic implications for other major historical sites in Turkey. Many in Turkey believe that the Church of Hagia Sophia is a stalking horse for the possible re-conversion of its more famous namesake in Istanbul, the Hagia Sophia Museum (Ayasofya Müzesi). For around 50 years, responsibility for the Church of Hagia Sophia in Trabzon has rested with Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and...

Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople has staked out his opposition to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Once the patriarchal basilica of Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque when Muslims conquered the city. In 1935, Turkey’s government made the building a museum, as part of the secularizing campaign under the leadership of Kemal Ataturk. Bartholomew I says Hagia Sophia should stay a museum (ANSAMed)

The Ecumenical Patriarch is opposed to the proposal of the Vice-President Bulent Arinc because there is "no need" for worship. Bartholomew is also supported by the head of the Muslim community, who points out the many mosques, which remain largely empty. Regarding minorities, the government is Turkish makes "one step forward, one step back." Anti-conformist sentiments on the up.Trabzon (AsiaNews) - There is "no need" to transform the ancient church of Aghia Sophia in Trabzon into a mosque, it is better that it remains a museum open to all religions: Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, expressed with clarity his...

Thousands of Muslims in Turkey, preparing to celebrate the Ottoman conquest of the country 500 years ago, are demanding that authorities allow them to convert the Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque, despite laws forbidding worship at what was once the world's most renowned Christian church. Instanbul's Hagia Sophia, which means "Holy Wisdom" in Greek, was completed in 537 by Emperor Justinian and considered the center of Orthodox Christianity for more than 900 years. It was converted in the mid-15th century into a mosque after conquest by the Ottomans and became a source of pride for the Muslim world. On...

Though ostensibly dealing with a building, a recent report demonstrates how Turkey’s populace—once deemed the most secular and liberal in the Muslim world—is reverting to its Islamic heritage, complete with animosity for the infidel West and dreams of Islam’s glory days of jihad and conquest. According to Reuters: Thousands of devout Muslims prayed outside Turkey’s historic Hagia Sophia museum on Saturday [May 23] to protest a 1934 law that bars religious services at the former church and mosque. Worshippers shouted, “Break the chains, let Hagia Sophia Mosque open,” and “God is great” [the notorious “Allahu Akbar”] before kneeling in prayer...

Experts have uncovered one of the six angel mosaics within the world-famous Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul after it had been hidden for 160 years behind plaster and a metal mask. The mosaic, which measures 1.5 meters by 1 meter, was last seen by Swiss architect Gaspare Fossati, who headed restoration efforts at the museum between 1847 and 1849, and Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid. Experts were surprised to see that the mosaic, believed to date from the 14th century, was so well preserved. Hagia Sophia, built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian between A.D. 532 and 537, was originally a basilica before...

Note: Below image is the Archangel Gabriel, not one of the newly uncovered images.Official: Long-lost mosaic seraphim uncovered at Istanbul’s Haghia SophiaSUZAN FRASER, Star Tribune ANKARA, Turkey – Restoration workers have uncovered a well-preserved, long-hidden mosaic face of an angel at the former Byzantine cathedral of Haghia Sophia in Istanbul, an official said Friday.The seraphim figure — one of two located on the side of a dome — had been covered up along with the building’s other Christian mosaics shortly after Constantinople — the former name for Istanbul — fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and the cathedral was...

<p>Having lived nine years in parts of the former Ottoman Empire but never having visited Turkey, the country at the core of that entity, I was looking forward to seeing what its largest city and former capital, Istanbul, looked like.</p>

The House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a strongly-worded measure on July 20, pressing Turkey to return all Christian church properties "to their rightful owners." By an overwhelming 43-1 vote, the congressional panel adopted a sweeping amendment to the State Department’s Foreign Relations Authorization Act, urging "the Secretary of State in all official contacts with Turkish leaders and other Turkish officials to emphasize that Turkey should": 1) end all religious discrimination; 2) allow the rightful church and lay owners of Christian church properties to perform religious and social services; 3) return to their rightful owners all Christian churches and other places...

The year is AD 1453. The place is the Basilica of Holy Wisdom or Hagia Sophia, built by the Roman Emperor Justinian between AD 532 and 537.  After the Muslims took possession of the basilica, they proceeded to do what they have always done when they take possession of principal Christian houses of worship: they removed the bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels and plastered over many of the mosaics. Hagia Sophia was made a mosque, and it remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey.There was a silver lining...

The European Union Parliament is pressuring the Turkish Government to restore Saint Sophia Cathedral from a museum into a Greek Orthodox Church. However the Parliament has set a requirement of 1.000.000 signatures on a petition before it makes this conversation a prerequisite for Turkey's admission into the European Union. You are requested to cast your vote by logging on to the link above. This is an opportunity for each of you to have an impact on world events. Get as many Greek Orthodox, other Orthodox and Christian friends of yours to sign the petition and make history.

If you believe in the just case that Hagia Sophia should be restored to its proper religious role as a church, for which it was built in the first place, then we ask you to support our petition to the EU Parliament that Turkey should not be admitted as a member of the European Community until it restores Hagia Sophia to its original purpose as a church and not a museum. We need a minimum of 1.000.000 signatures in order to force the European Union to consider this proposal seriously and debate it immediately as one of the conditions to...

The European Union Parliament is pressuring the Turkish Government to restore Saint Sophia Cathedral from a museum into a Greek Orthodox Church. However the Parliament has set a requirement of 1.000.000 signatures on a petition before it makes this conversation a prerequisite for Turkey's admission into the European Union. Please sign the petition and forward to friends.

The director of the state sponsored Islamic Research Center has made a new proposal toward reopening buildings for religious purposes. Ankara [kath.net/KAP] In the newly burning conflict surrounding Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, a leading adviser of the Turkish Religious Office has proposed that the historical Church should be open for Muslim prayers on workdays and for Christian Liturgies on Sundays. This could go a long way to solving the tug of war surrounding the Hagia Sophia which won't just be a comprise, said Mehmet Akif Aydin, director of the State sponsored Research Center (ISAM), to "Zaman" (Tuesday). one such solutino...

Quake-proof cement mixed '1 300 years ago' November 13 2002 at 04:36PM London - The Sixth Century builders of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine cathedral still standing in Istanbul, discovered cement with earthquake-resistant properties 1 300 years before anyone else, a research team revealed on Wednesday. Hagia Sophia, built as a church and subsequently turned into a mosque, still stands only because its creators discovered the cement. Many of the surrounding buildings have long since succumbed to the ravages of time, including earthquakes, according to a report in the New Scientist. The structure has withstood quakes of up to 7,5 on...

The second church was inaugurated in A.D. 405, after being built upon the remnants of the first church at the same site, which dates to A.D. 360... No scientific examinations have yet been carried out on the flooded ground four meters beneath the floor of the museum. According to Akkaya, the water found below is connected to the Basilica Cistern and Topkapi Palace. "Yes, the area underneath Hagia Sophia is filled with water. I assume the layers contain pieces of pottery and ceramics, as well as relics from the second church of Hagia Sophia," Akkaya acknowledged... Recently, a team of...