1,500

Yearold building is one of the most exalted seats of Christian and Muslim worship

537AD

Byzantine emperor Justinian completed the imposing structure

13TH

Century The Crusaders captured it briefly. It was later recaptured by Muslim forces

4

Minarets built over luminous gold mosaics and icons

1934

Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, converted Hagia Sophia into a museum

300M

Orthodox Christians say altering the status would fracture the Eastern and Western worlds