The first time I learned about this was in art class last semester. I think we had a unit of architecture, most of them were churches, because at that time everything was funded by the church. Anyway, out of the structures we looked at I really liked Hagia Sophia, which is in Istanbul, Turkey. The only picture I saw of it then was from a barely visible photocopied printout. but it was the history that was so interesting. It was first built as a church during the time of the Byzantium Empire, so there were a lot of frescoes depicting Christian symbols, then when the Ottoman Empire took over Istanbul, it was re-established as a mosque, therefore it also has numerous works of Islamic art. And then eventually in 1935 it was turned into a museum.
And then today I was looking at pictures of it. And it is such a beautiful building. I really want to be able to visit it someday.
for more on the history/pictures:
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