Istanbul: The Haggia Sophia

Here is a view of the Haggia Sophia, now a museum, as we approach it from the street.

The Haggia Sophia is an ancient Orthodox church. It was 'remodeled' by the Muslims and made into a mosque, and later turned into a museum.

This picture shows what, in my opinion, is the sad state of affairs. To me, it looks like the place is sort of dotted with graffitti, and none of it very elegant looking.
Here is on of the minarets that was added to make it a mosque.

In this picture you can see where windows (probably stained glass) were removed and bricked in. There were a lot of bricked in windows.

These steps lead up to where the Scriptures, and later the Quaran were read.

There is a lot of beautiful and ornate painting and grill-work.

The capitals are carved and the rest is painted, including the sandstone effect.

These mosiacs were first ruined and then restored. Most of these are famous, well known icons.
This is the Virgin and Child sitting with some heads of state... a bit of a time-warp.
And Christ, with Constantine, I believe.

This one was high on a wall and looked quite radiant.
Some of the remaining stained glass windows. They were lovely!