First call to prayer inside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia in 85 years

A muezzin's call to prayer reverberated inside the 6th century Istanbul landmark Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years on July 1.

The building in the city's historic Sultanahmet district broadcast the azan from its minarets following July 1's Laylat al-Qadr, or night of power, marking the first revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad.      

The broadcast of the morning call to prayer from within Hagia Sophia is likely to reignite the controversy over the use of the building, which was designated a museum in 1935 under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkisjh Republic.      

Although the prayer call has been played from Hagia Sophia's minarets for the last four years, the muezzin has always chanted from a prayer room in the museum grounds rather than from inside the former mosque and cathedral.    

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/first-call-to-prayer-inside-istanbuls-hagia-sophia-in-85-years.aspx?pageID=238&nID=101161&NewsCatID=341