Hagia Sophia in Istanbul may become mosque

[Dimko-piperkata]

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which was earlier a Patriarchal Orthodox Cathedral and later a mosque, and now a museum, may once again become an active mosque, the Sabah newspaper reports.


Repairs are underway. A mimbar - a platform for the imam -- is planned to be built in the museum.


Earlier, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said during a visit to the museum that fundamental changes should be made in Hagia Sophia.


Hagia Sophia was built in Constantinople, now Istanbul, in 537. After Mehmet II conquered the city in 1453, the church turned into a mosque.

http://en.trend.az/regions/met/turkey/1951696.html

sry, but this is disrespectful towards all christians

[Onur]

This story is definitely a made-up because it`s not possible. Hagia Sophia is a museum since 1920s and it will remain so.

It`s not possible to change ~90 year old law and open such a controversial place to public service regardless of a church or a mosque. It`s not viable to use a ~1500 year old building for such a thing either.

[Voltron]

It`s not viable to use a ~1500 year old building for such a thing either.

You can use it for a museum but you cant have people doing a church service ? What are they going to do, bring the foundation down from doing the cross ?

[George S.]

it sounds very odd for them to restore a museum to a mosque.Are they that short of mosques??Voltron what are you bitchin a mosque or a church is a building what matters is the people.A lot of the buildings are normally run down & they need conversion before they can be upgraded & that costs money.No one is going to waste good money on a dliapidated museuem.

[Daniel the Great]

Maybe the Turks should allow it to become a Christian Church again like it once was. But i doubt that would happen.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Voltron what are you bitchin a mosque or a church is a building what matters is the people.

George, that building has a massive significance for Orthodox Christians in the same way that Rome has for Catholics and Mecca has for Muslims. It is sad that it has been relegated to a museum let alone this apparent suggestion of being turned into a mosque.

[Onur]

SOM, it could have been relegated only to a museum, thats why it became a museum. Remember that it was a mosque for about ~500 years in 1920s. Just imagine this; Lets assume that an ethnic Albanian state officer wants to convert Ohrid church as a mosque. What would be the reaction in Macedonia??? The reaction would be similar in Turkey if Hagia Sophia would be a church after serving as a mosque for ~500 years. Let alone Turkey, even the people in Pakistan and Indonesia would react to that. I have no idea why you guys having difficulty to comprehend the situation about Hagia Sophia.

Yes, some suggest it to be a mosque, some says it should a church, thats exactly why it should stay as a mosque.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Remember that it was a mosque for about ~500 years in 1920s.

And it was the most significant church for the collective eastern Christians and their empire for 1000 years before that. No matter which way you put it Onur, it will never mean as much to Muslims as it does to Orthodox Christians. You're just unable to appreciate the significance, like most other Turks. I wonder how most of your kinsmen would feel if the British converted Mecca into a Protestant church.

Just imagine this; Lets assume that an ethnic Albanian state officer wants to convert Ohrid church as a mosque. What would be the reaction in Macedonia???

That comparison is irrelevant because the Ohrid Archbishopric has never been a mosque, let alone one of significance for Albanians or Muslims in general. There is no valid claim, historical or otherwise.

[Daniel the Great]

Remember that it was a mosque for about ~500 years in 1920s. Just imagine this; Lets assume that an ethnic Albanian state officer wants to convert Ohrid church as a mosque. What would be the reaction in Macedonia???

Like Hagia Sophia, all the Churches and Monasteries in Ohrid started originally as Christian Church's. st Panteleimon (plaosnik) in Ohrid was converted into a mosque by the Ottoman Turks, but changed back to a Church. My point is that Hagia Sophia wasn't just a Church longer then it was a Mosque, but, it was first a Christian Church before anything which is why it would be extremely disrespectful if the Turks decide to turn it into a Mosque. Same goes with the Churches in Ohrid, if one was to be turned into Mosque by Albanians and/or Turkish Muslims then that would be terrible.

Anyway, there has 2,944 active Mosques in Istanbul today, why do they need another one?

[julie]

Onur your comparison is warped mate . Haga Sofia was built as a Christian church . When it was damaged due to earthquakes Templar knights repaired it . Not only is it sacred church for orthodox people all Christians of all denominations see it as a holy place uniting all Christian denominations through the nicean creed . Ataturk gave an order to convert it back to a Christian church . The minarets still stand . The blue mosque was made in the same form as haga Sofia , and bias aside haga Sofia is magnificent

[MKPrilep]

it is not the hagia sophia in istanbul which was made again
a mosque but the hagia sophia in iznik!

You can read it hear.
Itīs a german side.

http://www.kath.net/detail.php?id=33762

 The church of Hagia Sophia was built by Justinian I in the middle of the city in the 6th century (modelled after the larger Hagia Sophia in Constantinople), and it was there that the Second Council of Nicaea met in 787 to discuss the issues of iconography.

[julie]

Today in Iznik, there are no christian churches, there is one that is in a building complex open one day a week for 2 hours, crammed in between a row of buildings, black bars cover the wooden entrance, and a security camera overhead
The artifacts that had not been destroyed now reside in Istanbul , outside Haga Sophia

[Onur]

Let me remind you why there is no church in İznik now and what happened to these buildings;

Turks took over Iznik/Nicea in 11th century and all the churches was intact and well preserved with periodic restoration works `till 1920s for about ~1000 years.

Then neo-Greeks invaded Turkey in 1919 and when they reached Iznik, ~1000 year old church(es) has been destroyed by artillery fires. Same thing happened to the ~500 year old mosques in the city too. Just as Bulgarian army did same destruction in Edirne in 1912.