Santa Sofía Reviews

Lots of history in this place. Tickets are a little expensive but worth it

Too crowdy place. Nice historic building, but almost half of the mosque was being reconstructed and that's why you couldn't see most of the walls.

I really enjoyed my visit here. It was truly a magnificent architecture from the past.

I was surprised that they opened it this Monday. Hope they can finish the maintenance soon.

Greatest example for Turkeys communal harmony . Once Church then Mosque and now a museum ..Top 1 in must see Istanbul places of attractions .

Where the east meets the west, history of Christianity and Islam in one location, a must visit while in Istanbul

Expensive at the moment, particularly as it is under restoration...

Hi everybody, the blue mosque is under construction , you may visit aya Sofia instead .

Wonderful experience. Would recommend going early to avoid the long queues for tickets. Preferably 9am

Your first destination in Istanbul, the mixture of religion there is inspiring.

The ceiling decorated with Allah name Mohammad (PBAH) name and other Islamic figures, and in between Jesus and Mary pictures.

There are many to see inside the main building and out side,

The tickets price is 65 TL, covered in Museum pass card

A must see in Istanbul. Amazing place to visit in the day or evening, it's huge. I had enjoyed a lot. it was a Magnificent building in and outside.

Nice place, old building with great and beautiful architecture...

What a lovely historic place, it has a large park between Hagia Sofia and Sultan Ahmed Mosque.

It doesn't need to write down the caption here for such a masterpiece of history.

Very beautiful place, unfortunately it was being renovated at the time of visit which completely covered parts of the interior

Great temple, unfortunately half frescoes are destroyed while tried to make a mosque

Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture. Its interior is decorated with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings of great artistic value. The temple itself was so richly and artistically decorated that Justinian proclaimed, "Solomon, I have outdone thee!" ( ). Justinian himself had overseen the completion of the greatest cathedral ever built up to that time, and it was to remain the largest cathedral for 1,000 years up until the completion of the cathedral in Seville in Spain.

Justinian's basilica was at once the culminating architectural achievement of late antiquity and the first masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. Its influence, both architecturally and liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Muslim worlds alike.

Not as awesome as it is hyped to be, prepare yourself for over an hour of waiting to get in.

Amazon building. It amazes me how magnificent it is given the time it was built

A photo is from Four Seasons Holtel's room. If you want to start the day w th Ayasofya. You should Four Seasons Hotel

The place has a lot of history,one of the places you should visit for sure !!!

A MUST-VISIT place in Istanbul, better go early morning, they close entrance doors at 4pm, upstairs last visitors can proceed before 4:30pm, check public holidays + closed days online.

It is a fantastic place. The long history is facinating to learn before coming and experiencing the place. The shear size of the building is amazing and the decoration and materials are crazy to think the oldest parts are over 1000 years old.

Very crowded to enter.. other attractions nearby are way better

it's a masterpiece. This place has seen plenty of history, and it's history by itself. Worth a visit, better with a guide.

The Hagia Sophia construction consists of mostly masonry. The structure is composed of brick and mortar joints that are 1.5 times the width of the bricks. The mortar joints are composed of a combination of sand and minute ceramic pieces displaced very evenly throughout the mortar joints. This combination of sand and ceramic pieces could be considered to be the equivalent of modern concrete at the time.[3]

From the date of its construction's completion in 537 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,[4] except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted by the Fourth Crusaders to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was later converted into an Ottoman mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.[5] It remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520.

The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the prior one having been destroyed by rioters in the Nika riots. It was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.[6] The church was dedicated to the Wisdom of God, the Logos, the second person of the Trinity,[7] its patronal feast taking place on 25 December, the commemoration of the birth of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ.[7] Although sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after Sophia the Martyr), sophia being the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom, its full name in Greek is , Naos t s Hagias tou Theou Sophias, "Shrine of the Holy Wisdom of God".[8][9] The church contained a large collection of relics and featured, among other things, a 15-metre (49 ft) silver iconostasis.[citation needed] The focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years, the building witnessed the excommunication of Patriarch Michael I Cerularius officially communicated by Humbert of Silva Candida, the papal envoy of Pope Leo IX in 1054, an act that is commonly considered the start of the East West Schism.

Great place, peacefuly, spiritual. Hear reading Quran it's give you more power, you feel like flying on sky

A unique and beautiful building that used to be a church during Byzass time and converted to be a mosque during ottoman time sultan muhammad al fateh

Excellent sample of Byzantine architecture, worth visiting.

For me the Hagia Sophia is the key attraction to Istanbul. This church outlived Christians (orthodox), Catholics (just a short period), Islamic conversion to become a mosque. And is now a museum, an old building with an old story.

A must see when visiting Istanbul! The ultimate point in history where Asia touched Europe, aka Constantinopel / Nova Roma

Wonderful former church and mosque that now showcases as a museum the peaceful existence of Christianity and Islam.
One of Istanbul's many worthwhile places to visit, which is rightly on every visitor's must-see list.

Loved the old architecture. Takes you back in history.

plan to have your tickets ahead of time to avoid long lines.
very close to the blue mosque and topakapi palace

Originality is very much preserved with visiting access to all areas. Great piece of jewel from history

Really facinating. I have not seen such a huge dome from inside before. Long que are expected. You may buy museum pass from less visited places like islamic museum and bypass que.

Beautiful Orthodox church with a long and rich history. It would be a heavenly place to celebrate the Divine Liturgy someday.

Historical must see! You can skip the line with loval tourist guides.

The structure is magnificent and boasts of both Byzantine and Ottoman touch as it was built as a Church and then later converted to a Mosque and now run as a Museum. A must see in Istanbul. But, remember to avoid it if it is under maintenance and renovations as we missed a large part of it's beauty due to renovation works going on inside the museum in June 2018.

I was totally taken aback. Our tour guide explained significance of the place and I think it is the most awesome thing. Turkey is leading the world in promoting unity. The Turks make you feel welcome and so comfortable. Altogether an awesome experience.

I visited Istanbul with this being top of the.to do. Was not disappointed. You will be offered guided tours which i did not take so cannot comment on. The building is simply stunning.
It can get very very busy so recomend going fot it opening to get the best out of it.

Lovely place and it is great in size, beautifully interior and ornaments

Ap place with soul.. Tells tales of the past.. Simply mesmerizing

Incredible history of several violations and beautiful building!

Amazing structure. We did a guide who explained the history related to it well

They are ashamed to say that its theirs.Its a Greek greatness and creation of Greeks!history proves it

Must visit. 100% recommend.
Nice for sightseeing.

Besides historical significance Ayasofya is so spacious inside and looks a bit alien from the outside, thanks to multiple elements around the main building. It was very interesting to visit and see with own eyes.

Good historical place .
Take a guide to introduce everyrhing.
You can buy tickets very easy in front of the museum.

Mind blowing architecture with amazingly managed visitor system. I went to this place in January with my wife. Place is kept clean and it is well exhibited. They have guides available right outside the museum for you to hire otherwise they also have audio guides at the counter. Ticket is little on the expensive side 60 lira. But it is worth a visit

Awsome mosque but It's under restauration. It's amazing and the que from the entrance can be skipped for 10 TL, people will come and offer tickets for a tip.

You should definitely visit the Hagia Sophia Museum and it s better to search a little bit before you go. It helps you to enjoy more the time, you were there

A Historical and most famous mosque in Istanbul, that was a church many years before...

The place is amazing. It worth a visit. You need your passport as a guarantee to get an audio tour or a 100 TL as a deposit. We got the tickets at the museum. The wait was around 45 minuets. The place wasn t crowded. The museum opens at 0900 and closes at 1900.

If you in Istanbul this is a must see very beautiful...Ma-sha-Allah

Just amazed by the scale and history of this place. Remember to see the mosaics on the upstairs gallery

The ultimate masterpiece of Greek Orthodox Christianity. An ecumenical symbol that brings tears to the eyes just by looking at it. Majestic, grandiose, sublime.

not as good as I expected it to be. It is a museum not overcharged (Prices around 12 ) and there aren't even audioguides included. You can get them for additional 8 . Not what I would expect.

There is a smaller copy of this masjid In Lanham ,MD and it is called Diyanet Center of America

Great history how different religious can survive in single church. Great decision to arrange the museum here. How the construction is strong to survive so many ages!?

Everyone should visit Hagia Sophia at least once in their life. Amazing architecture and history!

A grand mosque - it is blue from inside not outside

An amazing historical site! You can almost feel the past of humanity and how short truly life is...

Beautiful from inside and out. A must visit. Wear full clothes, or you ll have to buy temporary dress before getting in.

A true wonder of the world! Hagia Sofia was a church then a mosque and now a museum. For a long time it was the largest building in the world. This alone is worth visiting Istanbul.

Very authentic and worthy visiting and wish I'd visited when there is no restoration works or after it get finished