Following the transformation of Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today declared that another ancient church-turned-mosque now functioning as a museum will be converted back into a mosque.
The medieval church in Istanbul largely dates to the 11th century and was originally known as the Church of the Holy Savior in Chora in what was then Constantinople. After the Ottoman conquest of the city, the church was turned into a mosque, the Kariye Camii, in the early 16th century.