Faithful join governor at Hagia Sophia prayers

Hundreds joined Sunday morning prayers at Istanbul's Hagia Sophia after the first Muslim prayers were held at the landmark following its official conversion back into a mosque on Friday.

According to state-run Anadolu Agency, most of the participants at the morning prayers stayed overnight just to take part.

The Governor of Istanbul Ali Yerlikaya was among them.

Brushing aside international criticism, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree restoring the iconic building as a mosque earlier this month, shortly after a Turkish high court ruled that the Hagia Sophia had been illegally made into a museum more than eight decades ago.

The structure, listed as UNESCO World Heritage site, has since been renamed "The Grand Hagia Sophia Mosque."

Built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 537, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque with the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Istanbul.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding leader of the secular Turkish republic converted the structure into a museum in 1934.

Erdogan described the conversion into a museum by the republic's founding leaders as a mistake that is being rectified.

Turkey has vowed to protect Hagia Sophia's artifacts and has said it will remain open to visits by Muslims and non-Muslims outside of prayer hours.

The structure's mosaics depicting Christian figures are being covered with sail-like white drapes during the prayers.