Old city Istanbul

An all-day tour with a small group visited some of the important spots in the city. I ended up talking with an interesting man from Calgary, Canada, who originally is from Sri Lanka. He was in Turkey following the Scrabble World Championship, where in the finals he lost the last game. When I asked his name, he said, "Siri, like the phone." Really? The real, in your face, real person, Siri?

 Our photo was shot at the entrance to the Hagia Sophia. 

A rainy, gray day in the morning, but nevertheless, still some nice shots of the outside and the interior of this handsome building.

Built by the order of Emperor Justinian in 537, for 900 years Hagia Sophia had been the center of Orthodox Christianity until 1453 when the city was conquered by Ottomans. 500 years following the conquest of Muslims, it became a jewel for the Muslim world and as the grand mosque of the sultans. 

In 1935, Hagia Sophia was converted into a museum of Turkish Republic by the orders of Ataturk, and became one of the most significant monuments not only in Turkey but in the world with its architecture and its historical richness. It has been named a World UNESCO site.