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Posted by: Mazur Rodica

News / International

30 July 2020 / 14:00

Syria is building a replica of St. Sophia Cathedral with the help of Russia

Russia will help Syria build a miniature replica of Istanbul's "Hagia Sophia" that will function as an Orthodox cathedral, a Russian lawmaker said Tuesday in response to the former Istanbul museum's conversion into a mosque this month, according to naţional.ro.

The replica is to be built in the Greek Orthodox-majority city of Al-Suqaylabiyah, on a piece of land donated by Al-Abdullah militia leader.

Russia is Syria's main ally, and the building will be erected in the western Syrian province of Hama to highlight the importance of "peaceful dialogue" between the faiths, Conservative MP Vitaly Milanov said, according to the Moscow Times.

According to Lebanese publications, the project belongs to the head of a militia loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. After obtaining the approval of the metropolitan bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in Hama, Nicolos Baalbaki, the plans were then presented to the Russian army in Syria.

Syria's goal of building a replica of the historic building is seen as a gesture of revenge against Turkey, with which it is in a civil war. It is also a symbolic gesture by the Assad regime towards the Syrian Christian community, despite the fact that it persecuted it during the civil war.

St. Sophia Cathedral became a mosque again after the Turkish government overturned a 1934 ruling that turned it into a museum. The place was built by order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian the Great in the period 527-565 and served as a cathedral until 1453, when it was transformed into a mosque after Constantinople was conquered by the Turks. In 1935, the building was transformed into a museum.

The Russian Orthodox Church said in a statement that it regrets the Turkish court's decision to revoke the museum status of St. Sophia Cathedral.

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