Islamic architecture

As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches, mosques across Istanbul are gearing up for the spiritual occasion by adorning their minarets with illuminated messages known as mahyas, a tradition dating back centuries.

Within the scope of ongoing restoration in Istanbul's landmark Hagia Sophia, a renovation efforts have been launched for a crucial minaret in the structure due to recent discovery of deep cracks.

Steel scaffolding has been installed on the minaret named after Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II in the section of Istanbul's historic mosque overlooking the Topkapı Palace.

Foreign tourists will be required to pay an entrance fee of 25 euros to visit the Hagia Sophia Mosque as of Jan. 15.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry has completed its efforts to separate the entrances of worshippers and cultural visitors to the Hagia Sophia Mosque. Tourists will now be able to visit the mosque without disturbing the environment of worship.

Edirne Central Military Hospital, which was used especially for the treatment of wounded soldiers during the Balkan Wars and currently has just one wall standing, will be restored by the Presidency of National Palaces.

The oldest of the city's 700 wind catchers were built in the 14th century, but the architectural feature is believed to date back as far as 2,500 years.

Tall, chimney-like towers rise from centuries-old adobe houses in Iran's desert city of Yazd, drawing in a pleasant breeze for residents of one of the hottest cities on earth.

The owner of a 591-year-old Hatuniye Madrasa, an Islamic school in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, has put the historical structure up for rent but with a condition for those willing to take it.

The death toll from the previous day's suicide bombing at a mosque in northwestern Pakistani rose to 83 on Tuesday, officials said. The assault on a Sunni mosque inside a major police facility was one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent years.

A suicide bomber struck Monday inside a mosque within a police compound in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 28 people and wounding as many as 150 worshippers, most of them policemen, officials said.

Since the conversion of the once Christian Cathedral into a Mosque, it has been vandalised many times

A 440-year-old ancient Turkish bath in Istanbul constructed by Mimar Sinan, known as the "Grand Architect," has been put up for sale for 33 million Turkish Liras ($2 million), daily Milliyet report.