Santa Sofía Reviews

You can't describe this place in a few words. Rather just go see it for yourself. Very impressive and worth the price +-40 turkish lira.

If you love beauty and history, this place is definitely for you

Entry Ticket is 72 TL. Its Historical building which is build by Muslim Leaders. A nice place for history lovers.

Loved it. It's truly stunning with great historical value.

Very nice experience to visit it but missed some area due to construction.

It's pretty cool to see this historical building in the flesh, as well as motifs from Christianity and Islam side by side. Unfortunately scaffolding has covered up a quarter of the church, which mars the visual oomph of this place. You still have to go, of course, but one wonders if the authorities could have coordinated the multiple restoration works happening across the Istanbul sights. It can be a bit tiresome to navigate multiple queues only to find that yet another building is boarded up.

It s a quite nice place, but the tickets are a little bit expensive for what you can see.

Not much of a museum but a very impressive building. There is a lack of information and order in the museum

It s one of the greatest byzantine arichecture, huge scale s domes and minarets are full enough to overpower the people. Every moment it show various figure and attractive point to spectators!!
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 Revolt.

This is the place to go if you wish to see world harmony for the 21st century

There is not much to see. If you have time visit it, if you don't you will not lose any things. Enterence fee is very high 60

I've never seen anything like it before. Simply breathtaking.

So surreal and mesmerising! Download the Hagia Sophia app which will give u more detailed information instead of loaning the official audio guide over there.

A beautiful historical building not to be missed when you re around Sultanahmet area. Part of the interior is undergoing restoration work but nonetheless, you ll still be amazed with this place. Entrance fee is 72TL and Museum Pass is valid here.

One of the wonders of the world, one must visit this beauty when in Istanbul!

A definitely must visit if you are in Istanbul. There are some personal guides offering their service on the entrance if you like. But inside you can also rent audio guide, or (like me) you can just walk around and read the explanation box in every areas. There is also a video about the history of this museum that you can watch inside for free.

I think this is the best historical place in the city. Once the biggest church, then became a mosque, and now a museum. And you will be fascinated to know that this building is very old but once was very beautiful.

Aya Sophia is a magnificent structure built in 1935. It is amazing and has many great attributes to it.

Tremendous building, originally built around 567AD in the time of Constantine. Then it was converted to a mosque in the time of Ottoman. 7 years to build it will not be repaired as quick. Definitely visit.

Worth a visit. Get a guide book and skip the audio guide.

It's not only a historical place, but also a sacred one. There's a mix of two religions inside of the church/mosque. You can equally enjoy orthodox illustrations on the walls as well as muslim depictions! The museum is definitely worth visiting!!

Amazing architecture. Must go upstairs to get the full feel of this gem. Say hi to the resident cat. Took us two hours plus.

Must visit place if one can afford. Defining History on each step

The mixed Christian and Islamic religions in Hagia Sofia is incredible, and the subjective of the place is maintained beautifully!

The most visited and Worth visitng Place in Istanbul... 40 Turkish Lira... and see the Museum ... with lots of Othman Period Historical things... including War weapon... Guns.. Swords..Bows and Arrows...... Kitchen related items... and the Pictures ...

Amazing location with mixed cultural information old, modified or new things but overall great experience worth visiting and enjoying

Very old and historical place....some renovation work is going on...60 TL for entry....you may also get 3 museum ( Topkapi Palace museum, Hagia Sophia museum and Archeological museum) fir 135 TL. Museums can also be visited with museum pass 185 TL. It would be a great experience visiting the places....

Beautiful place. Some of it was still under construction but it didn't detract from the beauty of the ceilings. Don't forget to go to the upper gallery.

A great place to see and it's nice to see the art collaboration on the walls between Christianity and Islam, it show a person how we as humans can live in harmony under the roof of this earth. The downside was there is a lot of renovations ongoing I believe at the moment the ticket is not worth 72 TL it should be 50 TL until all renovations are done

Stunning museum though when i visited there is renovation.

Busy with intensive renovations. But ample is viewable for an intense visit

Mashalla very nice mosque... Alhamdullilah the we get this mosque back

Very huge church that was converted to a mosque and now a museum. It has a lot of inscriptions for both religions and a unique history of its existence. It must see tourist site and beautiful structure to see. The famous Hagia Sophia cat on Instagram can be found there. My favorite spot for taking a picture is under the and chandelier.

One of the must visits when you come to Istanbul. This museum holds a great history to turkey, and it's told through its beautiful architecture inside. How first it has been a church and then turned into a beautiful mosque by the Muslims.

-It has labels to every important aspect in the museum and what it represents.

-It's huge but not too tiring, if you want to bring kids.

-The tickets are available at the entrance, or they could purchased along a tourist package beforehand.

-note: a lot of people think that only the ground floor is available, yet there's a spiral stairs to the second floor in the right corner of the museum just when you go through the entrance.

+ I found a cat inside :], maybe you can find it too?

Used the Istanbul Museum Pass to skip the line at the entrance. Audio guides are also available here which was great.

It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture. Its amazing what was managed to be build by humans in 537ac. Very unique Orthodox church.

Breathtaking. Makes the mind wonder how they built it so many years ago.

Very beautiful museum and architecture - the audio guide is worth it to get background information and history concerning the place. You'll get very picturesque photos both outside and inside of the museum.

Once a church later an imperial mosque, and now a museum Ayasofya is a chronicle of byzantine architecture.The best way to visit this place is with a guided map which gives you the directions and insights to what you are beholding.Purchasing an Istanbul museum card will save you the trouble of standing in long ques waiting to purchase tickets for every museum you want to visit.
Look out for the wish or the sweating column.You could also grab a bite on some corn and chestnuts sold by the hawkers just outside the museum.

great place to feel history of centuries. strongly recommended to watch movie(left hand side from main entry gate) or to have guide to know background of everything. nice turkish coffee in front of building will add more taste to your day

Nothing les than the 8th wonder of the world .....built in 537 AD as an Orthodox cathedral it then became an Ottoman mosque and now a museum. The spectacular Hagia Sophia is the gem of Byzantine architecture. You need to buy an e-ticket to avoid the queue or a fast pass onsite as well there is a credit card selling machine on the left when you enter the first gate. There is a large work in progress inside for now.

Gives a host of insight into the early lives of Christians who created this first as a church, and the Ottomans who converted it into a mosque. Probably one of the very very few places on earth where two mainstream religions are depicted side by side.

Restoration work was in place at the time of my visit. Perhaps, nice for one time visit. Go early to avoid the queues.

loved this place soo much i did not want to leave. so much history to learn in there

Awesome place to visit.. Interesting things was to check out the wish column!

Historical place, A mosque at the same time a museum. t's free entrance so you should take this chance when visiting stanbul.

Interesting place to visit to know the history of it and how they change it from a Church to Masjid and then to a Museum

A bit overpriced for only being able to walk around in just a part of it. A big part is under reconstruction, therefore not accessible to public.

Almost nothing to see for that price , overpriced and over rated place

UNLESS YOU SEE I5 YOU CAN NEVER DESCRIBE THE FEELINGS YOU WILL HAVE WHEN INSIDE OF IT. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND GOING TO IT

Very nice and interesting historical place, most do for those fan of the architecture

One of the world's great buildings. Check out the bronze door to the side of the church. One of the oldest doors in the world brought from ancient Greek temple.

Nice experience in the midst of dozens of nice experiences in Istanbul.

Beautiful architecture, I would deffo recommend visiting.

Very peaceful place
Great to visit early in the morning and late at night

Traditional Turkish Historical masjid must be visited is you're in Istanbul with beautiful and breathtaking art work it is a museum there for you will need ticket or you could buy a pass I Will recommend buying 5 day museum pass for 125 TL which will cover all the museums