Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia is located in Istanbul. It is important to both the Byzantine and the Ottoman empires. For 900 years the Hagia Sophia had been the center of Orthodox Christianity until 1453when the city was taken over by the Ottomans. It then became a jewel for the Muslim world. The dome is what mostly makes Hagia Sophia world famous. Due to many repairs the dome has lost its circular shape. The church has a rectangle shape with 40 arched windows that bring the light in. In 1935 the Hagia Sophia was converted in a museum of Turkish Republic by the orders of  Ataturk and has become one of the most significant monuments on Earth.