The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.Image: Keystone
The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was once a cathedral and is now a mosque. Two Russian tourists read from the Bible – and thus call the police on the scene.
July 17, 2026, 01:31July 17, 2026, 01:31
Two tourists were arrested in Istanbul because they were said to have read aloud from the Bible in the visitor area of the famous attraction and now the Hagia Sophia mosque. The two are being investigated for inciting hatred and hostility, Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu reported.
The incident happened on Tuesday. The tourists were arrested by the police and then handed over to the migration authorities. According to the Russian state agency TASS, these are Russian citizens. The consulate is investigating the circumstances of the detention.
Sight with an eventful history
Hagia Sophia has an eventful history: it was built as a church by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD and converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453.
On the orders of the Turkish republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the building became a museum in 1934. In the summer of 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had Hagia Sophia converted back into a mosque.