Greek PM to visit Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will on Wednesday visit the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

The visit, which takes place on the second day of Tsipras's trip to Turkey, is scheduled to take place at 9.15 a.m.

Built in the 6th century under order of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, Hagia Sophia - a UNESCO world heritage site - was once Christendom's greatest cathedral.

It served as the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church before it was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in 1453.

It was turned into a museum by the Turkish government in 1935.

The Greek premier will then visit the Halki Greek Orthodox seminary on an island near Istanbul at 11 a.m.

Perched atop a hill on the Marmara islet with the same name, the seminary was operated by the Ecumenical Orthodox...