Just a few hours are left before Turkey officially converts Hagia Sophia into a mosque and inaugurates the sacrilege fiesta with the first Muslim prayer on Friday. Workers are zealously proceed with works to hide all Christian symbols in the Byzantine Basilica of the 6th century.
But no mater how many kilometers of carpet and how many chandeliers will be on, this Turco-Baroque will not be able to wipe out the magnificence of Hagia Sophia.
Turquoise carpets are being laid on the entire marble floor of the former Greek Orthodox Church.
Decorative bronze pillars have been placed around the marble masterpiece, which serve as borders for the faithful.
Sound systems are being tested so that the Muslim faithfuls can listen to imam reading the Koran.
Acoustic tests with the recitation of Quran at Hagia Sophia.
You can see parts of interior work done in the end pic.twitter.com/Hcsbf6anDc
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) July 23, 2020
In videos posted on social media, Turkey reveals just part of the work and how the Hagia Sophia will look like when it operates as a mosque.
The famous mosaic of the Virgin Mary with the Holy Infant is in her arms will be covered.
The original plan to cover all the impressive mosaics with curtains seems to have been abandoned. The lights that illuminate them will be turned towards the ground or turned off, while the central chandeliers will have more, enough power so that if the faithful looks up every Christian symbol will be darkened and have disappeared.
As early as 10 o’ clock Friday morning, the gates will open and the prayer is scheduled around 1 o’ clock.
