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Hagia Sophia
About
Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), (at the town square, intersection of two major streets of the town). While much smaller in size compared with the cathedral of the same name in Istanbul, this rectangular, red brick building built in typical Byzantine style, holds as much historical importance, if not more, as it’s the site of the seventh ecumenical council of Christianity (i.e. Second Council of Nicaea, in 787). Located in a pleasant small park, the edifice was converted to a mosque in the early days of Ottoman Empire, and after suffering from a fire during the turmoil of the 1920s, the place laid in a semi-ruinous state for more than eight decades. After the long-awaited restoration finally finished, it has been silently re-dedicated as a mosque by the current Islamist government in 2011, much to the dismay of architectural conservationists, tourism professionals, and many others, who hoped to see it turned into a museum in the fashion of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia. Free.
