In July 2020, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current president of Turkey, made the decision to turn the Hagia Sophia Museum back into a mosque. This decision was implemented by order of the State Council of the State. On July 24, 2020, a Friday prayer was held in Hagia Sophia for the first time in 86 years, and the President of Turkey was present at the event. In accordance with Islamic requirements, the Christian frescoes inside the Hagia Sophia were hidden from the eyes of the worshipers. This decision caused some protests from the Western countries and the Greeks, who consider themselves the heirs of the Byzantine Empire. However, despite these objections, Erdogan continued with the implementation of his decision, and Hagia Sophia again became a mosque.
In the past, the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople was the largest Christian cathedral in the world. The construction of this sacred site took place between 532 and 537 AD and cost three years of income to Byzantium at the time. Until 900 years, Hagia Sophia remained a Christian church.
The construction of Hagia Sophia is depicted in a Byzantine miniature.
The last official Christian service there took place on the night of May 29, 1453, during the last Turkish siege of Constantinople. After the victory of Sultan Mehmed II Fatih, who captured Constantinople, the cathedral was turned into a mosque with four minarets. So the Hagia Sophia mosque appeared.
Few people know that Hagia Sophia was also used in its history as a Catholic Christian temple. In 1204 it was captured by the crusaders after the fall of Constantinople. It was here, on May 16, 1204, that the coronation of the first Latin ruler of Byzantium, Count Baldwin, took place.
The status of the mosque lasted until 1935, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, an atheist who showed little support for any religion, ordered the Hagia Sophia to be turned into a museum. This decision finally changed the status of this historic site.
In the summer of 2020, Hagia Sophia was again turned into a mosque by the decision of the current President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Permission for this was issued by the State Council of the country. On July 24, 2020, for the first time in 86 years, a Friday prayer was held here, which was attended by the President of the country. In connection with Islamic prescriptions, Christian frescoes were hidden from the eyes of the worshipers.
The protests that could arise from the Western countries and the Greeks, who consider themselves the heirs of Byzantium, did not bring any results. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, like a true Turk, does what he sees fit. At the beginning of the process of changing the status of the cathedral, there were many disturbances, but they quickly subsided, and everyone came to terms with the new state of affairs.
2 окт 2024
