Istanbul: Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia Museum: Hagia Sophia is the one of the most visited museums and most prominent monuments in the world in terms of art and the history of architecture. It has also been called "the eighth wonder of the world" by East Roman Philon as far back as the 6th century. It was used as a church for 916 years but, following the conquest of Istanbul by Fatih Sultan Mehmed, the Hagia Sophia was converted into mosque. Under the order of Atatürk, Hagia Sophia was converted into a museum in 1935.

(© Melih Sular/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Completed on December 27, 537

Byzantine Emperor Justinian I ordered the creation of a new church in 532.

Unlike many cathedrals throughout Europe, some of which took several hundred years to finish, the Hagia Sophia, meaning “Holy Wisdom” in Latin, was completed in just five, inaugurated on this day in 537 CE.

The Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world for nearly 1,000 years, until the creation of Seville Cathedral in Spain and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.