The Hagus Sophia is an enormous architectural marvel in Istanbul, Turkey. That was originally built as a Christian basilic nearly 1500 years ago. Much like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Parthenon in Athens, the Hagus Sophia is a long enduring symbol of the cosmopolitan city. However, as notable as the structure is itself, its role in the history of Istanbul and, for that matter, the world is also significant and touches upon matters related to international politics. Religion, art and architecture. The Hagus Sophia anchors the old city of Istanbul and has served for centuries as a landmark for both Orthodox Christians and Muslims. As its significance has shifted with that of the dominant culture in the Turkish city. The Hagus Sophia, Iassafia in Turkish, was originally built as a basilica for the Greek Orthodox Christian church. However, its function has changed several times in the centuries since. Byzantine Emperor Constancious commissioned construction of the first Hagus Sophia in 36080. At the time of the first church's construction, Istanbul was known as Constantinople, taking its name from Constantius father, Constantin I, the first ruler of the Byzantine Empire. The first Hagus Sophia featured a wooden roof. The structure was burnt to the ground in 480. During the riots that occurred in Constantinople as a result of political conflicts within the family of then-Empire Arcadios, who had a tumultuous reign from 395 to 400 in date 80. Arcadios successor, Emperor Theodosios II, rebuilt the Hagus Sophia, and the new structure was completed in 415. The second Hagus Sophia contained five names and a monumental entrance and was also covered by a wooden roof. However, a little more than one century later, this would again prove to be a fatal flaw for this important basilica of the Greek Orthodox faith. As the structure was burned for a second time during the so-called Nicolary vaults against Emperor Justinian I, who ruled from 527 to 565. Unable to repair the damage caused by the fire, Justinian ordered the demolition of the Hagus Sophia in 532. He commissioned renowned architect Cicidoro's, Millet and Antimios, choose to build a new basilica. The third Hagus Sophia was completed in 537, and it remains standing today. The first religious services in the new Hagus Sophia were held on December 27, 537. At the time, Emperor Justinian is reported to have said, My Lord, thank you for giving me the chance to create such a worshiping place. It was famous for its massive dome. It was an engineering model, the world's largest building at the time. Historians consider it the high point of Byzantine architecture. The Hagus Sophia is of Masonry construction. The structure has brick and mortar joints that are 1.5 times the width of the bricks. The mortar joints are composed of a combination of sand and minute ceramic pieces distributed evenly throughout the mortar joints. This combination of sand and ceramic pieces could be considered the contemporaneous equivalent of modern concrete. From the date of its completion in 537 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral and the seat of the E.t.e. Medical Patriarch of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261. When it was converted by the fourth Crusaders to a Roman Catholic Cathedral under the Latin Empire. It functions as a Christian church for 916 years. Hagus Sophia has belonged to Turks since the time of Sultan Mehmet II, who seized Istanbul from the Byzantines in 1453 and attained the title of conqueror. When Mehmet II crossed the huge walls and entered the city, he first went to Hagus Sophia, and he presented this structure to his people as the right of the sword. As stipulated by the law at the time. From that day on, the Sultan established a careful relationship with this structure. Taking over the maintenance of the building and restoring its dilapidated main dome and other parts that were in ruins. This is because the seizure of the structure by Muslims is the concrete symbol of the triumphant emergence of Islamic civilization from the Middle Ages. Mehmet II turned Hagus Sophia into a mosque without damaging the historical fabric of the building. He also added a mosque to the side of the building. As the new owners, all of the Ottoman rulers doted on the structure which the Christian world could never forget. They commissioned the most valuable architects of the time to protect Hagus Sophia against time and earthquakes. In other words, there are traces of valuable figures such as Mehmet Sheenan in Hagus Sophia that have survived to date. Islamic features, such as the Mehrab Anich in the wall indicating the direction toward Mecca, for prayer, minbar, pulpit, and for minarets, were added. It remained a mosque until 1931 when it was closed to the public for four years. It was reopened in 1935 when the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Tatarq, converted it to a museum. Hagus Sophia was, as of 2014, the second most visited museum in Turkey, attracting almost 3.3 million visitors annually. According to Tatarq released by the Turkish culture and tourism ministry, Hagus Sophia was Turkey's most visited tourist attraction in 2015 and 2019. Turkey's president receptor Yep Erdoğan says tourists who will come to visit mosques in Istanbul will visit Hagus Sophia not as a museum, but as a mosque. Erdoğan said during a live televised program on March 2020. Istanbul's Hagus Sophia Museum will be called a mosque from now on. Hagus Sophia will no longer be called a museum. Its status will change. We will call it a mosque. He also said imams will recite verses of the Quran in Istanbul's Hagus Sophia during Friday's prayers on the anniversary of the city's 1453 conquest by Ottoman troops.