The Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia is a great example of what happens when culture shifts. Originally built in 390 CE, it served as a church throughout the Byzantine era and as a place for celebration and coronations of emperors. When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, the church was converted into a mosque. Then with the reforms instituted by Attaturk in the 1930s, the Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum.

I don't think I can do this impressive structure justice; one needs to stand in the center, look up the 14+ flights of scaffolding for reconstruction to the dome above, and contemplate it magnitude... and subsequently, our own fleeting existence in the face of so much history. Truly an awesome experience!