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Hagia Sophia is a mosque and former church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire, it was completed in 537 CE. The site was a Greek Orthodox church from 360 CE to 1453, except for a brief time as a Latin Catholic church between the Fourth Crusade and 1261. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it served as a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, the site once again became a mosque.
The current structure was built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople for the Byzantine Empire between 532 and 537, and was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. It was formally called the Church of God's Holy Wisdom and upon completion became the world's largest interior space and among the first to employ a fully pendentive dome. It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture[8] and is said to have "changed the history of architecture". The present Justinianic building was the third church of the same name to occupy the site, as the prior one had been destroyed in the Nika riots. As the episcopal see of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, it remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, until the Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. Beginning with subsequent Byzantine architecture, Hagia Sophia became the paradigmatic Orthodox church form, and its architectural style was emulated by Ottoman mosques a thousand years later. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as an architectural and cultural icon of Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox civilization.
The religious and spiritual centre of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years, the church was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom. It was where the excommunication of Patriarch Michael I Cerularius was officially delivered by Humbert of Silva Candida, the envoy of Pope Leo IX in 1054, an act considered the start of the East–West Schism. In 1204, it was converted during the Fourth Crusade into a Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire, before being returned to the Eastern Orthodox Church upon the restoration of the Byzantine Empire in 1261. Enrico Dandolo, the doge of Venice who led the Fourth Crusade and the 1204 Sack of Constantinople, was buried in the church.
After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it was converted to a mosque by Mehmed the Conqueror and became the principal mosque of Istanbul until the 1616 construction of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Upon its conversion, the bells, altar, iconostasis, ambo, and baptistery were removed, while iconography, such as the mosaic depictions of Jesus, Mary, Christian saints and angels were removed or plastered over. Islamic architectural additions included four minarets, a minbar and a mihrab. The Byzantine architecture of the Hagia Sophia served as inspiration for many other religious buildings including the Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki, Panagia Ekatontapiliani, the Şehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque and the Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex. The patriarchate moved to the Church of the Holy Apostles, which became the city's cathedral.
The complex remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum under the secular Republic of Turkey, and the building was Turkey's most visited tourist attraction as of 2019.
In July 2020, the Council of State annulled the 1934 decision to establish the museum, and the Hagia Sophia was reclassified as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. The decision to designate Hagia Sophia as a mosque was highly controversial. It resulted in divided opinions and drew condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches and the International Association of Byzantine Studies, as well as numerous international leaders, while several Muslim leaders in Turkey and other countries welcomed its conversion into a mosque.
Rolling thru one of Alexandria subdivision most interesting stretch of track, two Canadian National GP38-2 had a short train of empties in tow while coasting downhill into the set of banked reverse curves just west of Alexandria on their way to Coteau yard to exchange cars.
The former status of this transcontinental mainline cannot be hide too much; wide and broad curves complete with high speed banking, 100 MPH passenger speed over many sections of the 76 mile-long right of way along with a daily parade of varnish connecting Canada's capital with major city centre.
Sure no more thru freight pounding the mainline and linking Eastern Canada with Northern Ontario since the closure of Beachburg subdivision thru Ottawa Valley by CN in 1995, but freight trafic still barely active in this part of the world, at least enough to guaranteed four train crew assignment in Ottawa working the six-days-a-week 589 job.
Veteran locomotive engineer N.P, the current #1 on the OCR seniority list, is at the helm today, releasing every possible horsepower from his assigned old ladies in order to stay out of the way of those modern day varnish.
CN L58921-30
4765 4771
Milepost 25.1 VIA Alexandria subdivision
Alexandria, ON
July 30th 2023
Rebuilt by MK/MPI in the late 90's, the Houston Port Terminal Railroad Authority once had a fleet of 32 MK1500D genset locomotives (24 owned by PTRA, 8 owned by HB&T/BNSF). However, by 2023 they were being phased out in favor of leased GP38-2's from GATX/GMTX.
Now in 2025 all the MK1500D's have been sold off, though several still reside as plant switchers for some of the many customers along and around the Houston Ship Channel. For example, Frontier Logistics in Pasadena acquired eight of the locomotives from the PTRA. Here are four of them, including the former PTRA 9624, painted in a heritage paint scheme in 2012 as a nod to former PTRA liveries.
PTRA MK1500D #9624
PTRA MK1500D #9620
PTRA MK1500D #9604
PTRA MK1500D #9602
PTRA 9603, 9615, 9616, and 9617 are also on the property here.
Pasadena, TX
February 15th, 2025
Former Euro Cargo Rail 66010 now outshopped in DB Cargo Livery passes Doncaster on 0d53 1137 Doncaster Belmont Down Yard - Knottingley T.M.D on 02/06/2022
OHCR SD40-2 3329, which still has a CNW gong bell, sits at the TZPR Yard in East Peoria, IL. All 5 units in this photo here are each lettered for a different G&W railroad.
A theater operated at 1237 N. Ashland Ave. from at least 1913 until 1918. A funeral home formerly occupied the building, which dates to the early 1890s.
Grand Properties Acquisitions, LLC will propose at the April Zoning Committee meeting the plan to demolish 1235 and 1237 N. Ashland Ave. and seek to rezone the subject property to allow for construction of a five-story mixed-use building containing 1,460 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 16 residential dwelling units on the upper floors and enclosed parking for 4 cars. The height of the proposed building will be 54 feet 10 inches. A similar proposal will be presented for 1257, 1259 and 1301 N. Ashland Ave.
NOTE: Approval for the plan was granted in June 2023. A demolition permit was issued in January 2025.
The bell tower of the Mezquita-Catedral in Córdoba, Spain, is the former minaret (958) of the Great Mosque of Córdoba. The original minaret was encased in a Renaissance-style shell in the 16th century.
A tickets booth for the former Star-Lite drive-in movie theater on South Tacoma Way (Highway 99) in Tacoma, Washington
Former BR Class 25 D7612 at Buckfastleigh. This loco' was built at Derby works and first allocated new to 65A Glasgow Eastfield in April 1966. It was one of thirteen allocated to the Scottish Region fitted with single line token catcher recesses in the cab sides under the drivers windows. It then worked from Nottingham and Birmingham.
25 262, as it had become by then, went back up north in September 1985, being allocated to Carlisle Kingmoor. It was allocated the new number of 25901 in December 1985. The 25/9 was a sub class of twelve locos for use on Industrial Minerals and Chemical sectors of BR. All of the Class 25's were withdrawn in 1987 with 25901 being officially withdrawn on 16 March 1987, however the loco worked on past this date on trip work and is thought to be the last Class 25 to work a normal BR service towards the end of April 1987. It is now owned by South Devon Diesel Traction Ltd.