The images of shame from the interior of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople cause sadness. Security camera footage shows fragments of concrete falling from the dome too close to visitors, putting them at risk.
The online edition of the Turkish newspaper Birgün points out that “Hagia Sophia, which was converted into a mosque, is collapsing: footage of fragments of concrete falling.”
“If Hagia Sophia is not restored, it will collapse with the first earthquake”
The incident, which caused a painful impression, occurred in September 2022. The images released today show visitors running scared in order to avoid the pieces falling almost next to them.
Officials claimed that “the pieces fall from the ceiling due to the moisture created by the crowd, but no precautions are taken.”
Commenting on the visual material, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association for the History of Art (Sanat Tarihi Derneği STD), Sherif Yasar, stressed that “if Hagia Sophia is not restored, it will collapse with the first earthquake. When Hagia Sophia was a museum, that is, before it was converted into a mosque, there was a scientific council. At its last meeting before it was abolished, the council ruled that Hagia Sophia is 1,500 years old and if it is not restored as soon as possible, it will be destroyed in the event of an earthquake. In Hagia Sophia, groups of no more than 25 people should be accepted.”
Source: protothema.gr
