Turkey has announced that restoration work has commenced on Hagia Sophia, one of the most important historic sites in Istanbul.
The project, spearheaded by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, will aim to restore the 1 500-year-old monument’s centuries-old history, reported Hurriyet Daily News.
According to the Ministry, the restoration and maintenance work may take more than 50 years and will be completed section-by-section to prevent complete closure of the site.
Hagia Sophia, on the European side of Istanbul, is one of the most visited tourist sites in the city.
The religious monument holds unique features from the Ottoman and Byzantine eras. It was initially a cathedral and then used as an Ottoman imperial mosque. In 1935, it was turned into a museum before being turned into a mosque again in 2020.
