Hagia Sophia, Trabzon

The Hagia Sophia Mosque, which was opened to worship in 2013 after serving as a museum for 52 years, will be restored in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

A Greek-Russian businessman with roots in Turkey's Black Sea region has offered to cover all the costs of the construction of a mosque in Trabzon in exchange for the Fener Orthodox Greek Patriarchate regaining control of the province's Hagia Sophia, a church-turned-mosque.

A Muslim cleric has for the first time in 85 years recited the Koran in the Hagia Sophia, the world famous landmark of Istanbul which is now a museum after serving as a church and a mosque, reports said Saturday.

Pope Francis has arrived in Istanbul for the second leg of his three-day visit to Turkey, in a richly-symbolic trip set to include tours of a mosque and the Hagia Sophia, as well as a meeting with the Orthodox patriarch.