Topkapi Palace

Januray 2014

The original site of Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") was a pagan temple. After the Roman Empire recognized Christianity, the temple was converted into a Christian church. Later a Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica was built there, but after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, the church was remodeled into a mosque by the new Ottoman Empire. After the Turkish Republic was formed in 1923, this temple/church/Mosque became a museum. Inside Hagia Sophia there are several huge signs showing Arabic inscriptions (shown in one of my photos above), which are the names of Allah, Muhammad, and several Caliphs.

Photos taken by Alex Yu