Hagia Sophia's Christian icons to be covered with curtains during prayers

The 1,500-year-old Byzantine structure, which functioned as a museum for nearly 100 years, will reopen as a working mosque this week.
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A police officer stands guard in front of Istanbul's famous Hagia Sophia ahead of Friday prayers on July 17, 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey. On July 10, Turkey's highest administrative court voted to revoke Hagia Sophia's status as a museum, allowing the iconic structure to be converted from a museum back into a mosque. - Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

The Hagia Sophia will cover some of its Christian mosaics with curtains, Turkey’s presidential spokesperson said, ahead of the contested landmark’s reopening as a working mosque this week.

“Our goal is to avoid harming the frescoes, icons and the historic architecture of the edifice,” Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said during a TV interview Sunday.

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