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Archaeologists Plead for Help Protecting This Iconic Turkish Mosque

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The iconic landmark was converted from a church to a mosque in 2020, and has been extensively vandalized since then.

Hagia Sophia
Unal Cam/Xinhua via Getty Images

The iconic Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, is desperately in need of UNESCO protection, the Association of Greek Archaeologists say, according to a new report in ARTnews. The Hagia Sophia, which was converted from a church into a mosque in 2020, has been protected as a UNESCO site since 1985. But the locale has been vandalized extensively and sustained significant damage since then, and UNESCO needs to “intervene forcefully to reverse the current situation, which only poses risks for Hagia Sophia,” the Association says.

Read it at ARTnews

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