The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry announced the start of repair work on Istanbul’s 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia, one of the city’s most visited historical attractions. According to local media, the repair initiative intends to “eliminate the centuries-old fatigue” of Hagia Sophia. The repair and maintenance work is planned to be completed section by section over the next 50 years, without shutting the site to tourists.
The landmark, which was built as a cathedral and then became an Ottoman imperial mosque during the Ottoman Empire, was converted into a museum by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s command in 1934. However, it was turned into a museum in 2020.