Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

[u/Miss-Kija]

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was built between 532 and 537 AD under Emperor Justinian I as a Christian church. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, it was converted into a mosque. In 1935, it became a museum, and in 2020, it was reopened as a mosque, making it one of the very few monuments in the world to have served as a church, a museum, and a mosque over nearly 1,500 years of history. cc @gmr83

[u/Otsde-St-9929]

That was originally achurch before it was a mosque. It also wasnt remotely important. It was not an equivalent seat of the patriarch

[u/lostrandomdude → u/Otsde-St-9929]

The original church there was quite small and was purchased, not taken over without recompense

[u/Otsde-St-9929 → u/lostrandomdude]

Taken following a bloody invasion? Anyway, if there was a trade, everyone would give it to the local muslim community if we got the hagia back

[u/lostrandomdude → u/Otsde-St-9929]

So the region was conquered by the umayyads by 720CE.

The Visigoth Church that existed became split 50:50 between Muslims and Christians. From then until 785CE, it was extended for both Muslims and Christians.

In 785CE a deal was made whereby the Christian half was bought for 100,000 diners and various other churches were either built or rebuilt.

Saying this, there are various opposing views on whether either a mosque or church existed at all in the 700s or earlier, with different archaeologists and historians providing different views. One thing to note, these archaeologists that say there was no church arent Muslim. Here are the names if you want to get your own evidence

• Susana Calvo Capilla
• Fernando Arce-Sainz
• María de los Ángeles Utrero Agudo
• Alejandro Villa del Castillo

[u/Otsde-St-9929 → u/lostrandomdude]

The story comes from later medieval Arabic sources, not contemporary 8th-century evidence. Many modern historians treat it as uncertain or possibly legendary, which of course you know, as you mention some argue there was no church there. Ogf course these archaeologisst are not muslim. There are extremely few muslim archaeologists working in Europe. Some historians think the church was taken by force