We are starting out the new decade of contests with a softball. The answer is the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (not Constantinople), Turkey. For almost 1,000 years, the Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world. It became a mosque after the fall of Constantinople and now is a museum. If you are interested in Byzantium, there is an excellent podcast lecture series called “12 Byzantine Rulers” which gives a great overview of the Byzantine Empire.
Getting this one correct:
- Brian T
- Matt Manolides
- Chris Christensen
- Andy McAllister
- Ron Schott
- Florian Jenn
- ACG
- Stephen Hope
- Karel
- Ben Bayer
Please expect some overlap in future contests. I can queue up contests in advance, but answers require me to do sit down and go through answers. This will also me to get contests out in a more timely manner as I am traveling.
Image by Javierly.com
Image by RK Catch