Bapa Permodenan Turkey (Mustaffa Kamal Altartuk)

Dari gereja ke masjid ke muzium

Hagia Sophia asalnya dibina sebagai gereja antara tahun 532 dan 537 AD atas arahan Maharaja Byzantine Justinian. Ia direka oleh dua orang arkitek, Isidore dari Miletus dan Anthemius dari Tralles. Hagia Sophia menjadi gereja besar di Constantinople selama hampir 1000 tahun.

Pada tahun 1453, Constantinople ditawan oleh orang Turki Uthmaniyyah dan Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih mengarahkan bangunan itu diubahsuai menjadi masjid. Loceng, altar dan lain-lain berkenaan Kristian dibuang sementara lakaran di dinding ditampal. Ini semua diganti dengan unsur-unsur Islam seperti mihrab, mimbar dan empat menara di luar ditambah. Hagia Sophia kekal sebagai masjid sehingga tahun 1935 apabila ia ditukar kepada muzium oleh kerajaan Republik Turki.

Selama hampir 500 tahun, Hagia Sophia menjadi masjid utama di Istanbul dan model kepada masjid-masjid lain seperti Masjid Sultan Ahmed (Masjid Biru di Istanbul), Masjid Sehzade, Masjid Suleymaniye dan Masjid Rustem Pasha.

Museum, current use

In 1935, the first Turkish President and founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, transformed the building into a museum. The carpets were removed and the marble floor decorations appeared for the first time in centuries, while the white plaster covering many of the mosaics was painstakingly removed by expert restorers.^[22] Turkish fine art photographer Ahmet Ertuğ's close-up pictures of the restored mosaics can be viewed in the upper northern gallery of the Hagia Sophia in a permanent exhibition.^[23] The museum's hours are 9.30am to 4.30pm, Tuesday through Sunday; entry fee is 20 TL, or free with the use of a Museum Card.

Use of the complex as a place of worship (mosque or church) is strictly prohibited.^[24] However, in 2006, it was reported that the Turkish government allowed the allocation of a small room in the museum complex to be used as a prayer room for Christian and Muslim museum staff.^[25]

Another interior view of the Hagia Sophia, showing Islamic elements in the ceiling.