Finally, a good news...
The long-awaited restoration in Hagia Sofia is about to be completed and I am really excited.
I call it the oldest one of the grand cathedrals.
Even the greatest Turkish architect Sinan couldn't dare to shadow its grandeur and he built his masterpiece mosque, Suleymaniye, in another district. It was the mistake of Sinan's successors to put the Blue Mosque just across Hagia Sofia. Sinan opted to contribute from his genius by adding two minarets to this centuries-old building, making it stronger seismically.
The shaky picture above was taken in Hagia Sofia by myself a couple of years ago.
See the ugly scaffolding?
That scaffolding has been there for the last 16 years.
I barely remember how the interior was looking before the reparation had begun.
The dome has to be reinforced anyway against a possible earthquake and its scriptures, which were damaged because of humidity, should be restored.
Now it is announced that they started to dismantle the scaffolding after almost two decades. They are moving it to the last quarter of the dome, which is still not repaired. In June, they'll finish that part, too. And finally we'll see the whole picture again.
Here are some new photos from the dismantling process.
