who turned the hagia sophia into a mosque
Hagia Sophia As described by several Western visitors (such as the Córdoban nobleman Pero Tafur[36] and the Florentine Cristoforo Buondelmonti),[37] the church was in a dilapidated state, with several of its doors fallen from their hinges; Mehmed II ordered a renovation as well as the conversion. Mehmet attended the first Friday prayer in the mosque on 1 June 1453.[38] Aya Sofya became the first imperial mosque of Istanbul.[39] To the corresponding Waqf were endowed most of the existing houses in the city and the area of the future Topkapı Palace.[28] From 1478, 2,360 shops, 1,300 houses, 4 caravanserais, 30 boza shops, and 23 shops of sheep heads and trotters gave their income to the foundation.[40] Through the imperial charters of 1520 (AH 926) and 1547 (AH 954) shops and parts of the Grand Bazaar and other markets were added to the foundation.[28]
Constantinople Constantinople was the largest and richest urban center in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the late Eastern Roman Empire, mostly as a result of its strategic position commanding the trade routes between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. It would remain the capital of the eastern, Greek-speaking empire for over a thousand years. At its peak, roughly corresponding to the Middle Ages, it was the richest and largest European city, exerting a powerful cultural pull and dominating economic life in the Mediterranean. Visitors and merchants were especially struck by the beautiful monasteries and churches of the city, in particular, Hagia Sophia, or the Church of Holy Wisdom: A Russian 14th-century traveler, Stephen of Novgorod, wrote, "As for Hagia Sophia, the human mind can neither tell it nor make description of it."
Matthew 7:7–8 The common English expression "Seek and Ye Shall Find" is derived from this verse.
List of St. Elsewhere characters Portrayed by Denzel Washington