Mass media: Turkish authorities block access to Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia Cathedral. Photo: turistim.ru
Turkish authorities closed access to Hagia Sophia until July 24: on this day the first prayer is scheduled in Hagia Sophia, Vesti reports.
Access to the temple was closed for tourists; the entrance is guarded by the reinforced police squad.
The publication reports that tourists are not allowed inside the shrine, groups of Muslims are staying at the temple alongside the police.
“I am very upset, this is a wrong step. For me it is the same as if Notre Dame were closed to tourists and turned into a mosque,” says one of the Frenchmen who came specially to see Byzantine mosaics and murals.
As reported by the UOJ, on July 10, 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree on changing the status of Hagia Sophia and said that on July 24, the shrine would open as a mosque for Islamic worship.
Read also
Greek Archdiocese of America creates Folk Dance and Cultural Ministry
The American Archdiocese of the Constantinople Patriarchate has created the Folk Dance and Culture Department to preserve Greek traditions.
Bishops Council of Armenian Church to be held in Austria over govt. pressure
The session of the highest body of the Armenian Apostolic Church will take place in February in Sankt-Pölten instead of Etchmiadzin.
Request about Baptism of the Lord on Jan 19 tops Ukrainian trends on Google
Ukrainians massively googled for congratulations and information about the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on January 19.
OCU awards yet another order to Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican
Epifaniy Dumenko awarded Andrii Yurash with an order.
ECHR to consider lawsuit against placement of icons in Greek courts
Strasbourg will examine an appeal from an atheistic organization in Greece challenging the placement of Christian religious symbols in the country's courtrooms.
Holy Spirit Church of UOC damaged by shelling in Dnipropetrovsk region
The Holy Spirit Church, which is an exact copy of the Resurrection Church in Foros, was damaged.