People gather to perform Friday prayers at Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia for the first time in 86 years.

Esra Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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Esra Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

People gather to perform Friday prayers at Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia for the first time in 86 years.

Esra Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended prayers at Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia on Friday, completing the famous building’s conversion from a secular space into a Muslim house of worship. It had been a museum for more than 86 years.

The crowd was large, with thousands of people spilling outside the building and into a plaza and grassy areas near the sixth-century building, which is revered by both Muslims and Christians.

Erdogan’s decision to convert the landmark — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — from a museum back to a religious building has been controversial. The Hagia Sophia has long been hailed as a symbol of the coexistence of Christianity and Islam, a cultural junction between East and West.

Its architecture reflects its unique status, with its famous dome ringed by minarets. Inside, intricate mosaics and art depict both Christian and Muslim symbols. But Erdogan revoked the Hagia Sophia’s museum status earlier this month, acting almost immediately after a court cleared the way for the change.

On Friday, crowds of worshippers were generally calm and quiet. A very large media contingent was on hand, complete with satellite trucks and a scaffolding set up to give TV live positions a view of the Hagia Sophia. People who thronged a plaza and other spaces nearby could watch the ceremony and prayers on large video screens.

Local shop owners (the ones that were open; many were closed for Friday prayers as per usual) were generally supportive of the change, saying they hope it will bring more visitors to the Sultanahmet area of Istanbul’s Old City.

In brief interviews in the area, several people mentioned Mehmet the Conqueror, who originally ordered the conversion of the Hagia Sophia from a Byzantine church to a mosque after the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire.

Perhaps fittingly, after Erdogan attended the prayer service at Hagia Sophia, he went to another mosque nearby — one that is named for Mehmet the Conqueror.

Earlier this month, UNESCO said it “deeply regrets” Turkey’s decision” to declare the Hagia Sophia a mosque, urging local authorities not to alter the structure or restrict access.

“Hagia Sophia is an architectural masterpiece and a unique testimony to interactions between Europe and Asia over the centuries,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said. “Its status as a museum reflects the universal nature of its heritage, and makes it a powerful symbol for dialogue.”

Erdogan said on Friday that the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque will be a place that “people of all religions can visit,” the president’s website states. It adds that the site “will continue forever to serve all the believers as a mosque.”