Churches around Greece were in "mourning" on Friday (July 24) as Muslim prayers were to be held at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul for the first time in decades.<br /><br />Church bells around the country pealed at midday with their flags at half-mast to protest what the head of the Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos, has called an "unholy act of defiling" of the former Byzantine Empire cathedral.<br /><br />"(Today) is a day of mourning for all of... Christianity," Ieronymos said.<br /><br />The archbishop said he would hold a special service at the Athens Metropolis in the evening and chant the Akathist Hymn in honour of the Virgin Mary.<br /><br />The same service was held in Hagia Sophia on the eve of the Byzantine's Empire's fall to the Ottomans in 1453.<br /><br />Hagia Sophia is "a symbol of our faith and a universal monument of culture," Ieronymos said<br /><br />Religious and nationalist groups are expected to hold protests in Athens and Thessaloniki later on Friday.
