Why is One Minaret of the Hagia Sophia Mosque Red?

When Istanbul was conquered on May 29, 1453, the great structure of Hagia Sophia, known as Ayasofya, was converted from a church to a mosque. In Islam, for a building to be considered a mosque, it needs to have a pulpit (minber), a prayer niche (mihrap), and a minaret. Since Ayasofya was originally a church, it already had a mihrap and minber, but it lacked a minaret. To fulfill this requirement, a wooden minaret was quickly constructed. Later, to commemorate the bloodshed during the conquest of the city, a red brick minaret was built by Fatih Sultan Mehmet. The red minaret of Ayasofya became a symbol of the conquest. This is how Ayasofya regained its freedom as a mosque.

The base was initially built by the architect Ali Neccâr, and then Fatih Sultan Mehmet had a wooden minaret constructed, followed by a red brick minaret with six flutes and a balcony. The other three minarets, one of which is fluted, were built during the reign of Sultan Bayezid II, and the two similar minarets were constructed in the eras of Sultan Selim II and Sultan Murad III through the efforts of the renowned architect Mimar Sinan.