Greek archaeologists warn UNESCO over Hagia Sophia damage

The Association of Greek Archaeologists (SEA) has sent an open letter to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, urgently calling for intervention to halt the deterioration of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. The letter details damage including broken Ottoman wooden doors of the Imperial Gate, scraped and removed wall cladding, fountains and doors used for shoe storage, and destroyed marble floor slabs. The SEA attributes the problems to the monument's 2020 conversion from a museum back into an active mosque, following the Turkish Council of State's annulment of the 1934 decree that had established its museum status. The association also warns that the Monastery of Chora, also converted into a mosque, faces similar risks. Hagia Sophia, originally built between 532 and 537 AD under Emperor Justinian I as a Christian cathedral, was the world's largest cathedral until 1453 when it became an Ottoman mosque. It was turned into a museum in 1935 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, during which time Byzantine mosaics were discovered and conserved. The monument was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985. The SEA notes that since 2006, when Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs took over management of many monuments previously under the Turkish Archaeological Service, numerous sites have suffered irreparable damage.