Huge quantities of gold and silver under Hagia Sophia Church

Dr. Ferhat Aslan's book titled "The Secrets of Agia Sophia" states that huge quantities of gold and silver are buried at the foundations of Agia Sophia church in Istanbul. The Turkish professor maintains that there may be some truth to the many legends surrounding the Byzantine church and scratches at the surface of some of these. For instance, he believes that the columns within Agia Sophia were created using rare material.

There may be truth to the story that states that, upon entering the building, Byzantine Emperor Justinian cried out, "Solomon, I have surpassed you!"

The foundations are 70 meters in depth and Dr. Aslan believes that there are huge quantities of valuable materials laid to bury during the construction stage to symbolically protect the church from destruction.

Furthermore, Dr. Aslan believes that under the historic church lies another secret underground church built during the construction stage that has yet to come to light. A story from the conquest of the Church by Ottoman Turks in 1453 states that the Greek Orthodox patriarch who was praying when the Turks broke in slipped out a side door that Dr. Aslan considers may be the gateway to the temple beneath the temple.