İts a masterpiece of the Byzantine architecture and considered as the 8th. wonder of the world by most art historians. Hagia Sophia, ftom the 6th century, is the one and only construction that still stands in an excellent state of preservation and well worth an extended visit. At first sight, you may be a little disappointed by the external view of the building the minarets built in different style, the buttresses added later on and the tombs in the courtyard distort the harmony of the exterior desing. However, as you enter into the basilica, used as a museum today and get some background information on the building its hard not to respect and admire the people who built it and kept it in such good shape.
Almost one thousand years passed before the construction of another dome that is as big as Sophia even today, there are only a few buildings that could be compared with St.Sophia. The two famous architects of Asia Minor, Anthemius and Isidorus, realized the dream of Emperor Justinian, a temple bigger and more striking than the temple, of Solomon in Jerusalem, with the Wailing Wall, that still stands today. Hagia Sophia, completed in sixteen years time was damaged several times by earthquakes and fires, but repaired renovated and kept in use by the succeeding generations. Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque the day Istanbul was conquered by the Turks. Although human portrail is strictly forbidden in Islam, the mosaic and frescoes were only painted over and thus preservedi thanks to the great tolerance of the young II.Sultan Mehmet. St.Sophia became a museum in 1935 with the orders of Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish Republic, and the decorations were brought back to daylight.