The Cat of Hagia Sophia: The Night Watcher of a Mosque

Istanbul's Hagia Sophia is the only building in the world to have spanned three distinct histories: Byzantine, Ottoman, and modern Turkish. Built in 537 CE as a church, converted to a mosque after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and made a museum in 1934. Through all these identity changes, one 'native' has never left: an orange-and-white cat named Gli. When Gli died of kidney disease in 2004, Istanbul held a small funeral. Local papers wrote that he had 'witnessed 1,700 years of Hagia Sophia history.' Today, both Hagia Sophia and the nearby Blue Mosque have their own 'resident cats', patrolling the courtyards, welcoming visitors, and bringing a little warmth to a sacred space.