Aya Sophia

Originally dedicated in 360 A.D. the Aya Sophia was burnt down twice, once in 404 and again in 532 A.D. It was rebuilt as a church in 532 A.D. under Justian I's rule of the Byzantine Empire and would remain so for centuries. From 1453 until 1935 however, Istanbul was under the Islamic rule of the Ottoman empire and the Aya Sophia was turned into a city mosque. In 1935 this Church turned Mosque was finally turned into a Museum which greets international tourists on a daily basis and will continue to marvel generations to come.