Rebuilt from scratch based on the original plans, Hagia Sophia Fatih Madrassa of Istanbul was opened on Friday at a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The madrassa (a type of school in Muslim countries with a curriculum focusing on religious teachings as well as science) was the first of its kind in this former capital of the Ottoman Empire. It takes its name from Fatih (Conqueror), the title given to Sultan Mehmed II, who conquered the city in 1453. It was the sultan who repurposed this building used as living quarters of priests at then-Hagia Sophia church as a madrassa after the church was converted into a mosque.

The new facility, bearing the marks of Ottoman architecture, will serve as a home for many educational and research centers. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University, founded in 2010 by a foundation established by the Ottoman sultan centuries ago, will run the two-story madrassa.

"They demolished this place under the pretext that it blocked the view. This historic site was quietly destroyed," Erdoğan lamented.

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