Santa Sofía Reviews

Hagia Sophia is a very beautiful museum . I like it very much.

Beautiful. Unfortunately a section is covered for restoration. Queue up early if you don't have museum pass.

Beautiful, Grand, Magnificent. You could run out of superlatives.

One of the greatest landmarks in Istanbul and in Europe. Thinking how much history was written inside those walls, thinking through how many changes this building went it's overwhelming. Seeing a stained glass picturing Virgin Mary between two Koran verses is just giving you goosebumps.

Being in the ambience of a place seeped in history is an experience to cherish. The intricacies of the work are marvellous

Half of the place was shutdown due to Maintenance activities but entrance ticket was not reduced which should have been the case. A great place neverthless

Never get bore to come here all the time. Too much spots to take nice pictures, to learn the history as well of ancient time of Roman Empire and Ottoman Empire. A great world heritage!

For sure go, this place is steeped in history. It's incredible to reflect on just how old this building is and how many governments it's seen. The building itself is spectacular. It was busy the day we went, but it's a big enough place you don't feel like you're tripping over tourists. A must see in Istanbul.

Mesmerizing place in Istanbul, wonderful location , must fresh pomegranate juice and apple tea of course Turkish delights.

Very cool but a lot of the things mentioned on the audio guide aren't there.

There are some works so you can't really see it in its full glory.

One of the pearls from the legacy of Fatih Sultan Mehmet.

Must see for anyone visiting Istanbul. An absolutely awesome building, in the original sense of the word.

Beautiful part of history. Once a church, then a mosque now a museum.

A must even with renovations going on as may 2019.
Was not ready for such a magnificent place
Can feel the energy of centuries of worship
Even as not religious, feel and smell different inside. Very peaceful. even w lot's of tourists, go early to avoid crowds

Probably the most beautiful historical edifice in the world. I spent whole day inside and it was not enough to consume whole beauty of it. I definitely recommend to see it. It s amazing...

It s really beautiful and magnificent... but unfortunately at the moment all christian paintings are covered with some banners. Also the upper floors are closed. I respect all religions but let s not forget this is a really important monument both for christians and muslims.

The place where the magnificence of former empires is still felt

Best place to visit in Istanbul after Blue Mosque, one the historic structures in the world, built around 1400 years ago

Dazzling museum steeped in history. Went there as soon as it opened at 9 AM on a Sunday and got a headstart against a horde of tourists getting in later in the morning. An absolute must-see!

If you have any interest in religious history or awe-inspiring architecture, this place is a must.

Nice historical place. Well built. Best with tour guide.

Lots of reconstruction in the place but it is awesome after all

I love this place because it is very magnificently beautifully historic and it is a very enormous mosque that was once a church so there will be a lot of historical artifacts. Amazingly Turkey. Beautiful. Enough said. Facts. And there is a cat named GLI. A famous hagia sopia cat

This museum is really different , it will be the most ever you see , nice lovely building from last ancient, you have to be visiting.

lovely to see from the outside but even more amazing inside. this does have an entrance fee but most definitely worth it. there are historical facts placed around the building and beautiful murals inside.

Loved it . Prayed Jummah was just amazing and blessings.

It was a very nice place! It s very well conserved and a good ambiance. But the upsetting thing is that it was under construction and no one told us and also charged us a very high price when we couldn t even see the entire place!

A great religious site where Christianity and Islam comes together. It was surreal to witness 6th century artefacts.

Would highly recommend visiting Hagia Sophia
Worth checking on renovation works as historical sites in Istanbul are known to have this issue unannounced which can be disappointing!

Very nice historic place, i recommend to visit Sultanahmet Square to everyone

Built in 3rd century and still surprises people with it's scale and architectural design , I'm very lucky to visit this beautiful monument , a for sure biggest wonders of the world , currently restoration is going through, the ceiling , balconies , columns the dome are beautifully created to stand tall, representing the history and dynasty and it represent a city now ! It's rich in heritage as well as culture ..

Incredible structure, incredible history. Busy, but where isn't in Istanbul! Recommend going early to avoid crowds.

Must visit if you're in Istanbul, I advice to rent the audio tour guide, it will help you learn about every detail about Hagia Sophia. And if you find a long que on the tickets booth, it's worth waiting, and the waiting won't take so long.

Worth the visit, there is construction workings in the museum. The ticket is 72 lira

Hagia Sophia (in Turkish Aya Sofya) is the 8th greatest wonder of the world. Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral by Byzantine (Eastern Rome) Emperor Justinian around 532-537 A.D. On 1453, Ottoman Empire Fatih Sultan Mehmet conqured Istanbul and it was renovated into a mosque. It was converted into a museum on 1935 by Ataturk (founder of Turkish Republic).

The Police office of Istanbul is Unreliablly bureaucratic.

We have been cheated and stolen on Galata Bridge on the first day, 29 Sept. 2016, when we arrived Istanbul from Beijing.

The next morning, we found we had recorded two pieces of movie about the thieves by iPad. So, we reported to the policemen working near Hagia Sophia Museum.

A policeman inquired the fact and gave us a letter to the police office - Istasyon Arkasi Sk. This friendly policeman said that we would receive enough help based on his letter, and said they may catch the two thieves using our recorded movie.

But when we went to the police office, we were surprised that we had been refused The policeman said they have no Chinese-Turkey translator.

My wife told him she is an interpreter, and we know some policemen's English was very nice, such as the policeman who wrote the letter But it didn't work. The police insisted we must find and pay chinese-turkey translator and bring the translator here with us and refused to return us the letter

When we went back to ask the first friendly policeman, the writer of the letter, to help us, he looked very angry. After making several phone calls, he told us the police office had made a mistake, and he asked us to go back police office following him.

We went back with him, but the result was the same. The police officers refused us as before. The friendly policeman asked us to go to Chinese Embassy to get the translation of the fact and he gave us a piece of paper stating the address and number. But we felt it was just another game and we had no time playing it.

At last, we gave up. Because we have no enough time to find a chinese-turkey translator. So we say Thanks to the firendly policeman and walk out of police office.

No policeman asked us to offer the movie record of two thieves all the time. We had told them we have the deta several times.Pls believe me - The Police office of Istanbul is Unreliably bureaucratic.

30 Sept. 2016, Istanbul A visitor from China

Incredible historical landmark to visit in Istanbul. It is a representation of Byzantine-Ottoman culture/architecture merger

Long queue and overpriced place
It s just a church converted into mosque , why would anyone have to pay to see it?
Waste of time and money

FIRST OF ALL, WITH A FEW WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE AFTERNOON, A SIGN OF MAN'S LIFE AND HIS ARCHITECTURE AND HISTORY.I GOT THE PLEASURE OF REFERRING ME TO OTHER CLIMATES SPIRITUAL DEEP HISTORICAL TEXTURE AND KEEPS THE STRUCTURE OF THE FUTURE STATE-OF-THE-HEAD PAST ME, ONCE STARTED CALLING GO EVERYONE SHOULD SEE ME SAD. THE SENTENCES OF WITNESSES.

This place has to be seen to be believed. Takes about 3 hrs for the audio guide tour.

Well worth the money and effort, highly recommended

This is an incredible historical building. It was my favourite attraction in Istanbul and I would love to visit it again although I felt the building was in need of some urgent intervention in order to preserve the floors, frescoes and mosaics.

Lovely museum. Shame I went during the winter time and there were maintenance works going on inside. However, it is a splendid museum very rich in history and lovely to see inside. Would recommend getting a guide from just outside the museum to help explain what you are seeing.

One of the most beautiful cathedrals and buildings in the world. Visitors can feel the history in the air when walking in. As far as the museum aspect goes, it's very generous, allowing access to most of the building, and where preservative measures are taken, they're very unobtrusive. Early morning tours are recommended, but often the queue appears shorter in the late afternoon. However the design of the building is more geared around thr rising sun, so there is a caveat either way.

Impressive work of art and one of the most important sights in Istanbul!!

Astounding. It was 700 years old when the church was converted into a mosque. Another 700 years (or so) saw it turned into a museum. This is a remarkable monument to the history of the city and of the region.

This place is not to miss at all. U can see the history and the present at the same time. It is the biggest church ever that has long history. It is so sad that lots of the icons on the walls are fully or half destroyed. Must take care of all its values. I highly recommend this place.

Obviously, one of the first places you should visit in Istanbul. Huge and amazing.

EXTREMELY OVERRATED!!!
The most interesting thing is the gift shop.
It's empty and there's absolutely nothing there.

Really awesome place. Your ticket will return more than you paid for that...

I visited it from outside, it sit in front of Sultan Ahmed Mosque

It's a Mosque now so entrance is free. It's worth it to get a tour guide, because it's cheap and they know a lot about the place. It's one of the must visit places in Turkey and it doesn't really disappoint. Just be aware there is some construction right now so it's not all visible.

it's most amazing city on the world. . I'm really love it

In my opinion, not so impressive at all. The old Christian mosaics and Islamic things are really beautiful, the museum of Aya Sofya is always full of people.

Fascinating with centuries of art, history and religion. Unmissable

Brillaint tourist site to visit.. undergoing some works.. it has a two tiers to view the vista of this shared Christian/Islamic museum. Definitely a MUST when visiting Istanbul

The church/ mosque is amazingly beautiful. It was such a pleasure visiting it

Amazing architicture outside and very dramatic inside

Very amazing archtecture. How part of it was covered due to maintance

One of my favorite places to visit in Istanbul! So much history....full of mystery

Very important religious place from christian time. Inspite changing into mosque still has lots of christian signs.Now as a museum is very atractive for visitors.At the back of museum is museum of carpets worth to visit.

This comes from the desire to turn the Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. As if the Blue Mosque across the park was not enough of an insult. Constantinople is the true heart of Asia Minor.

Spectacular place. Do not expect a nice service from anyone there

Feel the connect between the past and the present. An ideal example of how multiple religion can exist in harmony at the same place.
Religious beliefs varies but we all followers are the same human being!

Amazing historical place and a museum worth visiting ... You won't need anything there vivid area with cultural blends...

This is a great piece of architecture and we loved it completely there.