Hagia Sophia, Thessaloniki
The Hagia Sophia (, Holy Wisdom) is a church located in Thessaloniki, Greece. With its current structure dating from the 7th century, it is one of the oldest churches in the city still standing today. Because of its outstanding Byzantine art and architecture, in addition to its importance in early Christianity, it is one of several monuments in Thessaloniki listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. History Since the 3rd century, there was a church in the location of the current Hagia Sophia. In 620, that church collapsed most likely because of an earthquake. Later in the 7th century, the present structure was erected, based on the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey). In 1205, when the Fourth Crusade captured the city, the Hagia Sophia was converted into the cathedral of Thessaloniki, which lasted until 1224, the year when the battalions of the Despotate of Epirus, under Theodore Komnenos Doukas, liberated the city. After the capture of Thessaloniki by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II on 29 March 1430, the church was converted into a mosque, called Ayasofya Camii, keeping its old name. It was reconverted to a church upon the liberation of Thessaloniki in 1912. Its ground