ISLAMIC ARTS MAGAZINE
By Maida Suljević
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| Hagia Sophia / Photo by Elvira Bojadzić, © Islamic Arts Magazine |
TURKEY---When the walls of Constantinople under attack by the Ottoman army collapsed on May 29, 1453, the first thing Sultan Mehmed II did was to enter the famous Hagia Sophia and transform 'The Soul of the Byzantine Empire' into a mosque, making the dream of his great grandfather Bayezid I come true. Hagia Sophia was cleaned, carpets were laid and the first Friday prayer was held on June 1st, 1453. The waqf was immediately founded so that all needs of the new Imperial Mosque would be taken care of. Istanbul, an example of the cultural exchange between civilisations occurring throughout the history of humankind, is a witness to how Byzantine sacred monuments were preserved by the Ottomans after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It therefore grants us the privilege of admiring masterpieces of Byzantine architecture today. [
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| The dome of the Kariye Museum / Photo by Maida Suljević |
