\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs24 In the fourth century, Emperor Constantine dedicated the cityÆs first basilica, built on top of a pagan temple, to \i Hagia Soph
ia\i0 , Divine Wisdom. Burned down several times, the basilica was rebuilt by Greek architects during the reign of Justinian in the sixth century, on a square plan and with its nave covered by a superb dome. This was to serve as a model, inspiration, and
challenge for the mosques that the great Ottoman architect Sinan was to design in the future. Immediately after the capture of Constantinople in 1353, the basilica was turned into a \b \cf2 \ATXht11311 mosque\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , equipped with four slender
minarets, and fitted out with the structures required for Muslim worship, the \i minbar\i0 , \i mihrab\i0 , and Koranic inscriptions. For about five hundred years the ôAya Sofya Camiiö remained a mosque, until û after the proclamation of the Turkish rep
ublic in 1923 û the building was converted into a museum, with the restoration of the surviving fragments of the Byzantine decoration, which had previously been concealed under the plastering.\par
