Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia remains the symbolic center of Greek Orthodoxy, even centuries after its fall to the Ottomans and its conversion to a mosque.

Despite relative obscurity in Western historiography, Byzantine architecture has had a profound influence across the world. The Byzantines, also known as the Eastern Romans, developed a distinctive architectural style that has continued to influence construction to this day. Not limited...

Senator-elect of Pennsylvania John Fetterman recently released a statement regarding his opposition to Turkey’s treatment of the religious freedom of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Orthodox Christianity. Fetterman, on Tuesday, won the race against Dr. Mehmet Oz who was strongly backed...

There is an almost uncountable number of ancient Greek and Byzantine archaeological and historical sites in Turkey.

The former Basilica of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople) is the undisputed symbolic center of the Greek Orthodox faith, hosting millions of visitors, who are awed by its great religious, historical, and architectural importance, each year. From 537 to 1453,...

A brave Greek priest managed to hold an Orthodox liturgy in Hagia Sophia in 1919 at a time when the iconic cathedral was being used as a mosque. It is commonly believed that the last Orthodox liturgy in Hagia Sophia in...

At least two people were killed following Sunday’s terrorist attack at a ceremony marking the opening of a Hagia Sophia Replica in Syria’s northwestern Hama province. More than a dozen were injured in what appears to be a jihadist drone...

The Hagia Sophia's historic Imperial Gate has been damaged again, as vandals appear to have pried out one of the metal plates on the 15th century oakwood door. It was the second time the door has been damaged in...

A number of tiles of the ancient marble floors in Hagia Sophia have been damaged by heavy machines used to clean the site, according to Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet. The historic building, which was built as a church in the Byzantine...

The sound of Hagia Sophia was recreated recently by two scholars from California’s Stanford University by simply popping a balloon. Bissera Pentcheva, a professor of art history, has published a book on the subject titled Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and...