The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia (Άγια Σοφία) in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish, is a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque in Istanbul. Now a museum, Hagia Sophia is universally acknowledged as one of the great buildings of the world.
For over 900 years the Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for church councils and imperial ceremonies.
And ... Hagia Sophia served as the principal mosque of Istanbul for almost 500 years.
Now, after all changes and thunder-storms, this is wonderful combination of beauty and wisdom in architecture.
The Arabic roundels are painted wooden plaques that were added in the 19th century during a restoration of the mosque. The one on the left, which is nearest to the mihrab (niche showing the direction of Mecca), bears the name of Allah. See this photo for a closer view of an Arabic roundel.
In the upper left of the photo is the apse, where you can just see the bottom of the wings and robe of the Archangel Gabriel.
