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The Hagia Sophia (in Greek Ἁγία Σοφία) is one of the most famous churches in all of Christendom. Prior to the building of Saint Peters in Rome, it was the Christian church. The current iteration built by the Emperor Justinian in the 7th century served as the center for Christendom until its fall to the Muslim Turks in the 15th century. For 500 years, it served as a mosque until Atatürk turned it into a state museum. The Hagia Sophia  is one of the greatest landmarks in history and merits an extensive visit. In fact, I spent 24 hours on a train from Romania to Istanbul just for the opportunity to walk through its halls and visit its famed dome. However, travel is a bit extensive. Here is an exceptional 3D, interactive tour of the Hagia Sophia. Don’t worry about the Greek on the website (unless you happen to know modern Greek). The information in the tour itself is actually english. You can pan, zoom, turn, examine close-ups, etc. It takes a minute to load, so be patient! If you really enjoy Byzantine history, I highly recommend that you follow @Byzantinephil on Twitter If you’re interested in other interactive museum exhibits, check out my earlier post: “The Best Online & Interactive Museum Exhibits“ Share this: Email Facebook Print StumbleUpon inShare0 Digg Reddit   About Jennifer Lockett I'm a student of the human condition: history, philosophy, art, and culture. I am a passionate educator. I am a lover of new technologies and its abilities to share knowledge View all posts by Jennifer Lockett » Leave a comment Posted by Jennifer Lockett on July 29, 2011 in Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, History, Museums   Tags: Ancient Rome, Aya Sophia, Byzantine, Byzantium, Christianity, Early Church, Hagia Sophia, History, Rome, http:/

In a March 2005 podcast (http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2005/03/03.html), Jon Udell persuasively identified five major factors behind the explosive growth of podcasting and rich media authoring in general: Internet activity is pervasive. Broadband has grown very rapidly, which makes it far easier to “consume large media objects.” The multimedia personal computer can “more or less be taken for granted.” The “distinction between streaming and downloading of media content has begun to blur. . . . People can now have the experience of streaming while enjoying the simplicity . . . of downloading.” Finally, there is the iPod phenomenon and “the rapid adoption of portable MP3 playback devices”—up to eleven million devices in the United States alone. Udell calls the portable audio device “the new transistor radio” and points to the beginnings of a “renaissance of creative stuff happening.” Because this renaissance coincides with the Creative Commons phenomenon, traditional business models need not constrain the artist’s work.