With (non-Islamic) religious services being prohibited the Ottoman's might as well still be ruling.
Hagia Sophia -- ``Holy Wisdom'' in Greek -- rose from the ruins of an earlier church in the 6th century and now holds 15 centuries of religious and political history under its massive central dome and multicolored marble columns.
It was the architectural and spiritual marvel of Christian Byzantium until the city -- then known as Constantinople -- fell to Muslim forces in 1453.
Crosses and other Christian symbols were defaced and it became one of the most renowned mosques of the expanding Ottoman Empire.
In 1935, it again was transformed -- this time into the Ayasofya museum during the secular reforms of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who built modern Turkey from the Ottoman ruins.
Religious services are prohibited, and Benedict's visit Thursday is considered by Turkish officials as only sightseeing.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/16113406.htm?source=rss
With (non-Islamic) religious services being prohibited the Ottoman's might as well still be ruling.