Dr. Ferhat Aslan’s book, entitled “The Secrets of Hagia Sophia”, argues that a huge quantity of gold and silver is buried under the foundations of the iconic cathedral in Istanbul — the capital of the 1,000-year Byzantine empire of Constantinople.

The Turkish professor maintains that there may be some truth to the many legends surrounding the early Byzantine-era church and scratches at the surface of some of these. For instance, he believes that the columns within Hagia 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 precious metals buried 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 Christendom’s greatest city in the East by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 states that the Orthodox patriarch who was praying when the Muslims broke in slipped out through a side door, which Dr. Aslan considers may be a hidden gateway to the subterranean temple beneath the cathedral.