Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 44. Chapters: Bulgarian St. Stephen Church, Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Chora Church, Church of Saint Benoit, Istanbul, Church of Saint Menas of Samatya, Church of SS Peter and Paul, Istanbul, Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Istanbul, Church of St. George, Istanbul, Church of St. George of Samatya, Church of St. Mary Draperis, Istanbul, Church of St. Mary of Blachernae (Istanbul), Church of St. Mary of the Mongols, Church of St. Mary of the Spring (Istanbul), Church of St. Polyeuctus, Church of the Holy Apostles, Church of the Virgin of the Pharos, Crimea Memorial Church, Ese Kapi Mosque, Hagia Irene, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Church of Living Water, Monastery of Stoudios, Monastery of the Panagia Hodegetria, Nea Ekklesia, Palace Basilica, Pammakaristos Church, Toklu Dede Mosque. Excerpt: Hagia Sophia (; from the Greek: , "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: ) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935. The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity, its dedication feast taking place on 25 December, the anniversary of the Birth of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ. Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after Saint Sophia), sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom - the full name in Greek being, "Shrine of the Holy Wisdom of God." Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered...