Museum no more: Turkey set to turn Byzantine structure Hagia Sophia back into a mosque

A top Turkish court ruled on Friday that the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, which has served as a museum in Istanbul since 1935, would be handed over to Turkey's religious affairs directorate and reopened for Muslim worship.Here are some things to know about the structure

The Council of State, Turkey's highest administrative court, unanimously cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision and said Hagia Sophia was registered as a mosque in its property deeds. AFP

It was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites in 1985 but following Friday's decision, it reverts from being a museum to being a mosque. Reuters

Until now it has been the principal tourist attraction in Turkey, hosting millions of tourists every year -- 3.8 million visitors in 2019. AFP

There has been more religious activity inside the museum in recent years -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recited the first verse of the Koran in 2018. Reuters

As early as 1994 when he was running for mayor of Istanbul, Erdogan promised to open the building to Muslim worshippers. AFP

The edifice was first built as an Orthodox Christian church between 532 and 537 AD under emperor Justinian I and is considered the most important Byzantine structure. AFP

The UN's cultural agency UNESCO earlier warned Turkey against converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque, urging dialogue before any decision was taken. AFP

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