In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, and Sultan Mehmed II went to Hagia Sophia for the first Friday prayer after capturing the city. They proceeded to convert the temple into a mosque.
Some of the mosaics and frescoes were removed, and the rest were painted over. Eight wooden medallions hanging at the base of the column come from the Ottoman period. They bear the names of Allah, Mohammed, the first four caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and Mohammed's two grandsons: Hasan and Hussein.
In the sixteenth century, two colossal marble vessels were brought from Miletto, which probably stored oil for lamps.
