|
|
Article: The Hagia Sophia.(CULTURE)
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- September 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The Hagia Sophia: Evidence of Istanbuls Conflicted Past Istanbul is a city of crossroads. Its a place where East meets West; a spot where Christianity and Islam have come face-to-face for centuries; a city which still stands somewhere between modernity and age-old tradition. Everything in Istanbul, from the architecture to the people themselves, reflect its conflicted past.
The centuries-old tug-of-war between eastern and western cultures is obvious everywhere in the city. Nowhere is this struggle more apparent than in the Hagia Sophia--the "Church of Holy Wisdom", later turned into a mosque, which has drawn both Christian and Muslim pilgrims to Istanbul for ...