Hagia Sofia Cathedral-Museum to be Converted to a Mosque
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OCP News Service – 10/7/2020
Constantinople-Turkey: Hagi Sofia the Byzantine Orthodox architectural masterpiece and the original Cathedral of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople will ultimately be converted into a mosque. A Turkish court today revoked its eighty-year-old status as a museum. Its is expected that the Turkish President Erdogan may convert the Cathedral-Museum into a Mosque.
Erdogan and his supporters have been pushing for the conversion of the Cathedral amid international pressure.
However, the Turkish Presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın stated that the Hagia Sofia will always belong to the world’s historical heritage. He also stated that Orthodox icons inside the Cathedral will be preserved.
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A UNESCO world heritage site, the Hagia Sofia Cathedral happens to remain the first Royal church in Turkey. When Constantine was the Emperor of Constantinople, he took leadership to construct this church and consecrated the church in AD 360. The church was named MEGA EKKLESIA.
Source:
OCP News Service
