Cultural heritage as an authority resource: demuseumification of Hagia Sophia as the tool of the legitimacy support

In the article, the authors show the relationship between cultural heritage and political interests of the authorities, clarify the concept of the value of a cultural and historical object in its socio-cultural context, and close relationship with the political needs and interests of the subjects of politics. The article substantiates possibility of converting the value of cultural heritage objects into power resources. Using the example of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the authors characterize museumification as a way of resolving confessional confrontation and demuseumification as a tool for preserving and strengthening political positions of the current government in difficult socio-economic and political conditions, including those associated with the global pandemic of coronavirus infection.