Editing Iconoclasm (section)

=== Ottoman conquests ===
Certain conquering Muslim armies have used local temples or houses of worship as mosques. An example is [[Hagia Sophia]] in [[Istanbul]] (formerly [[Constantinople]]), which was converted into a mosque in 1453. Most icons were desecrated and the rest were covered with plaster. In 1934 the government of Turkey decided to convert the Hagia Sophia into a museum and the restoration of the mosaics was undertaken by the [[Byzantine Institute of America|American Byzantine Institute]] beginning in 1932.