After the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it was converted to a mosque by Mehmed the Conqueror and became the principal mosque of Istanbul until the 1616 construction of the Blue Mosque (the one on the other side of the square). The complex remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years and reopened in 1935 as a museum. (previous | next | back to album | 2022:09:12 09:04:12 | 14% of an album)