A structure that has dominated the Istanbul landscape for almost 15 centuries is Hagia Sophia. It was originally built by Justinian as an Orthodox Church, converted to a Mosque, and then into a museum. And it's big - only the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids were bigger at the time of its construction.Unfortunately, our timing was off and we weren't able to go inside the structure, but we also think that it's still under restoration, so it's difficult to see stuff. Regardless, it's a pretty amazing structure, when you consider its size and the fact that this would have been the first major building project since the Fall of the Romans in the Western Europe (sorry, had to make the architectural historical point).
