Why the Hagia Sophia is special
Modern-day architects marvel how their 6th century counterparts could design the immense Hagia Sophia and its "impossibly" high-&-wide domed ceiling.
Forty windows ring the base of the 16-story-high dome, making it seem to upward-gazing viewers 16 floors below that the dome is levitating. Photos could never give us a sense of that illusion or of the enormity of the Hagia Sophia's internal space. We have to see this 1400-year-old wonder in Istanbul, Turkey firsthand.

How the building evolved
The Hagia Sophia was built between 532 and 537 by the Christian Emperor JustinianI as a Byzantine church, which it functioned as for the next 900 years.
In 1453, the Islamic-faithed Ottomans took over Constantinople (now Istanbul). They wasted little time in converting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. It served the Muslims for almost 500 years.
The Ottomans painted over the Christian mosaics - and erected the four defining minarets we see today.
In 1934, Turkey changed the Hagia Sophia's status from mosque to museum and uncovered the priceless Byzantine mosaics.

Needs a major restoration
Parts of the Hagia Sophia building are currently in regrettable condition due to centuries of neglect. A major effort is afoot to save and restore this masterpiece of the ages.

What leading travel books say about the Hagia Sophia
In the 6th century, nothing like the Hagia Sophia had ever been built, or even imagined.
Western Turkey
Cadogan Guides

The Hagia Sophia is the supreme achievement of Byzantine architecture.
Turkey
Baedeker's Guides