תרגום - טורקית-אנגלית - ayasofya..

I don't know any Turkish but the meaning of the text seems a bit weird. I specifically refer to "toured" and "first known in Byzantine times and making the Ottoman era come alive". We're talking about an ex-church, ex-mosque here. It wasn't "known" in Byzantine times, it was built in Byzantine times and had nothing to do with the rise of the Ottoman empire.

I am obviously not saying that the translation is not precise or correct but I just thought I'd note my thoughts.

Hi irini, perhaps "open to public since 1935 as a museum" sounds better?
I understood the phrase "making the Ottoman era come alive" as the museum making the era come alive for the visitors.

Hagia Sophia Well everything's possible I guess but what about ""first known in Byzantine times" ? I most certainly like "open to public" more but then, as I said, I don't speak Turkish.

Thanks for your feedback, you two. I've changed a few things according to your suggestions. I'm not sure what you didn't like about "Hagia Sophia", though - that's how it's known in English.

P.S. It was not a museum during the Ottoman Empire - it was a mosque, as Irini said.

For "to remove damage to the colossal structure, challenged by time", I am thinking perhaps it will be less confusing if it is written as "to repair damages to the colossal structure, inflicted by the passage of time"

I'm not sure if my suggested change is different from the original meaning..

Ah! Now I understand! Perfect, thanks! And who said I didn't or don't like "Hagia Sophia"?

1) Thanks for the suggestion, Samantha, but that seems more confusing to me, especially since the appositive "inflicted" comes right after "structure", making it seem like the structure was inflicted. I don't really see anything wrong with the original sentence, although I agree that the word "challenged" is a bit odd in this context - still I think it's fairly clear.

2) Irini, I guess I misunderstood what you meant when you said, "Hagia Sophia? Well everything's possible I guess."

Oh, that was a sort of comment to Samantha's comment about Hagia Sophia making the Ottoman Empire come alive

Oh - I get it now.

thanks..