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| | Istanbul Turkey - Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia |
 | | One of the highlights of a visit to Topkapi is the Harem, the secluded quarters of the wives, concubines, and children of the sultan. |
 | | Hagia Sofia, the Church of Divine Wisdom, was originally constructed by the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine in 347 A.D. The church was destroyed in a rebellion in 532 and rebuilt by the Emperor Justinian on an even more magnificent scale in 537. |
 | | The greatest church in Christendom was converted into a mosque after Mehmet II took the city and supporting buttresses were soon added, notably by the famous Turkish architect Sinan, in 1571. |
| www.asiaminortours.com /turkey/dest/istanbul.htm (509 words) |
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