Hagia Sophia definitely qualifies as a sacred destination

Hagia Sophia is the greatest legacy of the Byzantium era. This “Church of Holy Wisdom” rises above the noise and chaos of down town Istanbul.

© Byzantine Catholic Culture

The history behind this place, in short, is that it was the centre of the Roman empire’s religious, commercial and artistic life in the 6th century A D. Situated on the beautiful sea of Bosphorus, it became the greatest church in the ancient Byzantium era. Sadly, much of the church’s original gold and marble was plundered during the Crusades in 1204 and carried off as booty. In 1453 Constantinople (what is now Istanbul) fell to the Ottoman Turks and the church was converted into a mosque.

We were walking around - awesome - we looked at the magnificent stained-glass windows, countless mosaic tiles, etc. Our Turkish tour guide explained all and brought some great turkish culture to our tour. You cannot do this tour without a guide as you would miss out on too much of the history that is mostly unknown to a Westerner like me.

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