Hagia Sophia, (the Church of) Holy Wisdom, now known as the Ayasofya Museum, is a former eastern orthodox church converted to a mosque in 1453 by the Turks, and converted into a museum in 1935. It is located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is traditionally considered one of the great buildings in history. Its conquest by the Ottomans at the fal off Constantinapole is considered one of the great tragedies of christianity by the greek orthodox faithful.The name comes from the greek name Ἁγία Σοφία, a contraction of Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, meaning "Church of the holy wisdom of God It is also known as Sancta Sophia in Latin and Ayasofya in Turkish Although it is sometimes called "Saint Sophia" in English, it is not named after a saint named Sophia — the Greek word sofia means "wisdom.“