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Gallery|Religion

In Pictures: Hagia Sophia opens as mosque for Muslim prayers

Thousands, including many who travelled from across Turkey, performed prayers in segregated areas outside Hagia Sophia.

Istanbul''s Hagia Sophia Mosque hosts first Friday prayers in 86 years
People wait for the Friday prayer during the official opening ceremony of Hagia Sophia as a mosque in Istanbul. [Sedat Suna/EPA]
Published On 24 Jul 202024 Jul 2020
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Thousands of Turks performed prayers at Hagia Sophia for the first time since Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the monument, revered by Christians and Muslims for almost 1,500 years, a mosque once again.

Earlier on Friday, crowds formed at checkpoints around the historic heart of Istanbul where police maintained security.

Once through the checks, worshippers sat apart on prayer mats in secured areas outside the building in Sultanahmet Square.

“We are ending our 86 years of longing today,” said one man, Sait Colak, referring to the nearly 90 years since Hagia Sophia was declared a museum and ceased to be a place of worship.

“Thanks to our president and the court decision, today we are going to have our Friday prayers in Hagia Sophia.”

A top Turkish court announced this month it had annulled Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum.

Erdogan immediately decreed that the building, a Christian Byzantine cathedral for 900 years before being seised by Ottoman conquerors and serving as a mosque until 1934, had been converted once again to a mosque.

As crowds grew, leaving little space for social distancing, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said authorities had stopped people entering the area due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

On Twitter, he called for patience and said the mosque would be open for prayer until Saturday morning.

Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque for the first time in 86 years, in Istanbul
An imam began the formal prayer service at 1:45pm local time (10:45 GMT), after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recited from the Quran, and the call to prayer rang out from the mosque's minarets. [Murad Sezer/Reuters]
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Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque for the first time in 86 years, in Istanbul
Outside the building, worshippers sat apart on prayer mats in secured areas. [Umit Bektas/Reuters]
Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque for the first time in 86 years, in Istanbul
Friday is the 97th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, which set modern Turkey's borders after years of conflict with Greece and Western powers. [Umit Bektas/Reuters]
Turkey''s President Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan pose in the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul
Erdogan declared the monument, revered by Christians and Muslims for almost 1,500 years, a mosque once again. [Turkish President Office/AFP]
Istanbul''s Hagia Sophia Mosque hosts first Friday prayers in 86 years
People wave the Nationalist Movement Party flag in Istanbul. [Sedat Suna/EPA]
Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque for the first time in 86 years, in Istanbul
A top Turkish court announced this month it had annulled Hagia Sophia's status as a museum. [Umit Bektas/Reuters]
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A man waves a Turkish flag outside TURKEY HAGIA SOPHIA
The UNESCO World Heritage Site was built as a cathedral during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 537 but converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. [Omer Kuscu/AP]


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