iwannagothere.com Things to do in Istanbul

In the era of Byzantines, Hagia Sophia was built as the "Great Church". After the conquest of Constantinople, and the city was named as Istanbul, the Great Church also converted into a great mosque. For over 500 years, Hagia Sophia served as the main mosque of Ottomans and had been a model for many other famous mosques. Fortunately, the Christian mosaics from Byzantines have remained and conserved! The museum is a little highly priced but worth of seeing for sure.