Istanbul : The Aya Sofia - Hagia Sofia

This extraordinary building is İstanbul's most famous monument. Emperor Justinian had the Aya Sofya built as part of his effort to restore the greatness of the Roman Empire. It was completed in 537 and reigned as the greatest church in Christendom until the Conquest in 1453. Mehmet the Conqueror had it converted into a mosque and so it remained until 1935, when Atatürk proclaimed it a museum. Shot with a Sony cx 730 HD cam