Intel: Syria to build Hagia Sophia replica with Russian backing
With support from Russian officials and the Orthodox Church, Syria will begin construction on a small-scale replica of the Hagia Sophia that will serve as an Orthodox cathedral.
With support from Russian officials and the Orthodox Church, Syria will begin construction on a replica of the Hagia Sophia that will serve as an Orthodox cathedral, according to the Lebanese Al-Modon news website.
The decision follows a controversial order by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month to reconvert the Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Istanbul that was built in 537, into a mosque. Erdogan’s decree followed a ruling by the Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative court.
The Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral in what was then Constantinople; after Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it became a mosque. In 1935, it was turned into a museum.
Russia will help fund a scaled-down version of the cathedral in the western Syrian province of Hama.
