Thanks to the machinations of Turkey’s Islamist president, Recep Erodgan, Turkey will be reconverting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. There was no need for this, except to assert an Islamic supremacism to his voter base. The construction of the Hagia Sophia – the name means Holy Wisdom -  started in 360 A.D. A fire destroyed it in the sixth century, but a re-construction soon started, which was completed in 537 A.D.  For the next nine centuries, the Hagia Sofia was a church, arguably the greatest in the world. It shifted hands between Catholics and Orthodox – and in the 8th century, icons were destroyed by iconclasts - but it always remained in Christian hands. In 1453, with the fall of Constantinople, the Hagia Sofia fell into the hands of Muslims. For over nine centuries (not counting the first church which was burnt down) it had been a central point of Christian worship. But the Muslims set about turning it into a mosque. Still,...(Read Full Post)