Hagia Sophia (the Church of the Holy Wisdom) in Istanbul is arguably the most important building in our Judeo-Christian tradition. Built by the Roman Emperor Justinian in 537AD, then reconstructed some twenty-one years later after an earthquake brought the Dome crashing in, Hagia Sophia still exhibits all the signs of deep religious devotion; astonishing cultural creativity and the historical sweep that saw the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire endure for a thousand years after Rome itself, and the Western Empire, finally collapsed and disappeared in 476AD.
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