Lonely Planet website has chosen Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia in its top 10 list of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Hagia Sophia “is the great architectural landmark at the heart of Istanbul, with its four minarets poised like moon-bound rockets,” the Lonely Planet said.
Constructed in the 6th century A.D. as an Orthodox church, Hagia Sophia later became a mosque, and since 1935 has been a museum. The base of the building’s dome is ringed by windows, so that from within the structure the dome seems to hover ethereally above the building.
Other buildings on the Lonely Planet list include the Museu Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil, Crac des Chevaliers in Syria, Winter Palace, Russia, Imam Mosque, Iran, Taj Mahal, India, Sagrada Família, Spain, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt, Potala Palace, Tibet, Museo Guggenheim, Spain.
Watch the tour below through the historical Hagia Sophia in İstanbul Türkiye.
