Dome of Hagia Sophia is restored and hidden

The dome of the Istanbul landmark Hagia Sophia is to be restored and earthquake -proof. The massive vault and its mosaics will not be visible to visitors in the time of work, the Ministry of Culture in Ankara said. The work should begin in one or two months.

In the meantime, the main dome of the mosque in the historic center of the city would be covered with a tarpaulin and a steel structure, the Turkish cultural and tourism minister Nuri Ersoy said on platform X. According to the plans, a level is temporarily pulled in under the dome.

Four massive supports are set up in the prayer room during the renovation. The restoration will take at least one year, the ministry said. Meanwhile, the construction is still open to tourists and prayer.

The Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian as a church and, after the conquest of Constantinopels (today Istanbul) in 1453, converted into a mosque by the Ottomans. At the order of the Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the building became the museum in 1934. In the summer of 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had Hagia Sophia converted back into a mosque.

Experts predict a strong earthquake for the metropolis with a strength of over 7 at the Richter scale in the near future.