Istanbul: Day 2 (22 May 2008) - Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia)

We had our breakfast at the hotel. The hotel served selection of the typical Turkey breakfast – bread, cake, cheese, salami, slices of tomato and cucumber, tea/coffee, hard-boiled eggs, apple/strawberry and a 2 lira orange juice. We took few slices of tomato and cucumber every morning because they have some cooling effect and therefore we don’t experience any sore throat because of too much kebab and grilled food. Our main historical itenary for today is Aya Sofya and Top Kapi Palace. Both places are just nearby to the Blue Mosque. Aya Sofya particularly is just the opposite of the Blue Mosque.We paid 10 Turkish lira per person to enter Aya Sofya. Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia) was considered as an example of Byzantine architecture. Originally, Aya Sofya was a church and constructed in 532-537 AD during Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Then in 1453, when Constantinapole (now Istanbul) was conquered by the Ottoman, Aya Sofya was turned to become a mosque during Sultan Mehmet II era. Inside the building, the remains of the Christian interior features such as the mosaic of Virgin and Child can still be seen (see below picture.
The Islamic features - such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside - were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey (wikipedia).