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EPA
There was only room inside Hagia Sophia for 1,000 people at a time
Crowds have gathered in Istanbul as the Hagia Sophia historical site opens for Friday prayers for the first time since Turkish authorities ruled it could be converted to a mosque.
“Muslims are excited, everyone wants to be at the opening,” Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said on Thursday.
The 1,500-year-old Unesco World Heritage site was converted into a museum in 1934.
But a Turkish court annulled his status, saying that any use other than as a mosque “was not legally possible.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the world-famous site would be ready for prayers on Friday starting July 24.
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Reuters
Erdogan said that Hagia Sophia would remain open to all Muslims, non-Muslims and visitors.
The move was criticized by religious and political leaders around the world.
Hagia Sophia was built as an Orthodox Christian cathedral and first became a mosque after the Ottoman conquest nine centuries later.
While there was considerable excitement when the crowds made their way to the Unesco site, not everyone was happy. The secular opposition party that runs Istanbul has described the move to make it a mosque again after 86 years as a politician rather than a religious.
What will the prayers be like on the site?
In a televised speech on Thursday, Governor Yerlikaya urged attendees at Friday prayers to bring “[face] masks, a prayer mat, patience and understanding “as measures to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 would be in place.
He added that health workers would be available on site.
Turkey’s religious affairs minister Ali Erbas said around 1,000 people could attend the prayers at the site at any time.
He said “modifications” had been made to the interior and that a “garden setup” had been prepared, adding that the site would remain open overnight.
A turquoise rug was placed on the floor to prepare for prayers, and Christian relics were draped in white curtains or darkened by lighting.
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Reuters
The head of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs visited the site on Wednesday while laying the carpet
Scaffolding was built inside the dome as builders scrambled to convert the interior of the old building. By Friday, the scaffolding was largely covered in red panels.
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Ali Yerlikaya
This image of the interior of Hagia Sophia was posted on Twitter early Friday by the Istanbul governor.
Among the Christian mosaics expected to be obscured during the Muslim prayer was the 9th century Virgin Mary and Jesus mosaic within the apse.
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Reuters
The ancient Byzantine cathedral is famous for its large mosaics representing Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
Erdogan is expected to be among the faithful on Friday.
Why was Erdogan’s movement controversial?
Devout Islamist and Muslim groups in Turkey had long called for Hagia Sophia to be converted into a mosque again, but secular members of the opposition opposed the measure.
When President Erdogan announced the decision to do so on July 10, he received widespread criticism.
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Reuters
Built almost 1,500 years ago, Hagia Sophia became a mosque in 1453.
Pope Francis responded by saying that his “thoughts go to Istanbul,” adding: “I think of Hagia Sophia and it hurts a lot.”
The head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew I, warned that the conversion of the building would “disappoint millions of Christians” and fracture two worlds.
The World Council of Churches, which has 350 member churches, called for the decision to be reversed and said it would sow division.
Unesco said it deeply regretted the move, which further fueled tensions with neighboring Greece, home to millions of Orthodox supporters.
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But Erdogan defended the measure, stressing that the country had exercised its sovereign right.
“After 86 years, Hagia Sophia will return to serve as a mosque, in the way that Fatih, the conqueror of Istanbul, had indicated in his act,” he said.
He added that the building would remain open to all Muslims, non-Muslims and foreign visitors.
A former Erdogan ally Ali Babacan said Hagia Sophia “has hit the agenda now only to hide other problems.”
What is the history
The iconic domed building is located in Istanbul’s Fatih district, on the west bank of the Bosporus, overlooking the Golden Horn harbor.
The complex history of Hagia Sophia began almost 1,500 years ago, when the Byzantine emperor Justinian built the great church in 537.
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Reuters
Mosaics can be seen on the walls of the iconic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
In 1453, in a devastating blow to the Byzantines, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II captured Istanbul (formerly known as Constantinople) and the church of Saint Sophia, an Orthodox Christian cathedral, was converted into a mosque for Friday prayers.
Four minarets were added to the exterior, while ornate Christian icons and gold mosaics were covered with panels of Arabic religious calligraphy.
After centuries at the heart of the Muslim Ottoman empire, it was turned into a museum in 1934 in an attempt to make Turkey more secular.
Since then it has become one of the most popular tourist sites in Turkey, receiving more than 3.7 million visitors last year.
