Posted on 04/11/2013 10:01:04 AM PDT by Olog-hai
One of the most important monuments of late Byzantium, the 13th-century Church of Hagia Sophia in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, which is now a museum, will be converted into a mosque, after a legal battle that has dramatic implications for other major historical sites in Turkey. Many in Turkey believe that the Church of Hagia Sophia is a stalking horse for the possible re-conversion of its more famous namesake in Istanbul, the Hagia Sophia Museum (Ayasofya Müzesi).
For around 50 years, responsibility for the Church of Hagia Sophia in Trabzon has rested with Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The courts now accept the claim made by the General Directorate of Pious Foundations, the government body responsible for most of the country’s historical mosques, that this has been an “illegal occupation”. The court has ruled that Hagia Sophia is an inalienable part of the foundation of Sultan Mehmed II who first turned the church into a mosque after his conquest of the Empire of Trebizond in 1462.
“A building covenanted as a mosque cannot be used for any other purpose,” says Mazhar Yildirimhan, the head of the directorate’s office in Trabzon. He declined to speculate on whether this would mean covering up nearly half the wall space taken up with figurative Christian art, including the dome depicting a dynamic Christ Pantocrator. “There are modern techniques for masking the walls,” he says. …
(Excerpt) Read more at theartnewspaper.com ...
The church of St. Sophia, built by Justinian ia still sacred to many thousands of Christians, even though it is now a museum. If damaged or worse destroyed by extremists there will be a price to pay.
Great, so now Israel can convert the Al Asqa mosque and Dome of the Rock into a Jewish Temple? If not, why not?
This article concerns a smaller St Sophia’s in Trabzon, not Justinian’s big St Sophia’s in Instanbul.
Many in Turkey believe that the Church of Hagia Sophia is a stalking horse for the possible re-conversion of its more famous namesake in Istanbul, the Hagia Sophia Museum (Ayasofya Müzesi). …
Okay it’s a small point, but the church is not named after a saint.
Hagia Sophia is Greek for “Holy Wisdom”
Islam is an evil Political System. Look at www.politicalislam.com Dr. Bill Warner a great patriot.
Islam is an evil Political System. Look at www.politicalislam.com Dr. Bill Warner a great patriot.
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