The Cathedral of St. Sophia, built in the 6th century in the center of Constantinople, may very soon change its current, museum status and become a mosque. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this possibility in his interview to TGRT TV channel. “The status of Hagia Sophia may be changed from a museum to a mosque after the municipal elections on 31 March. Tourists of all faiths can now enter the nearby Blue Mosque for free. You can do the same with Hagia Sophia, ”the Turkish leader told reporters. As noted by the expert of the newspaper 'Vzglyad', the head of the research center 'Middle East-Caucasus' Stanislav Tarasov, the Turkish president is not opening the map of St. Sophia for the first time - recently, for example, he declared: 'We will not allow turning Istanbul into Constantinople.' Recall that after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the main Orthodox cathedral of the Second Rome - in the name of Saint Sophia - was converted by the Ottoman Turks into a mosque. And it became a museum in 1985. Today it costs 60 Turkish liras (about $ 10) to enter. Photo: National Geographic Russia
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