Santa Sofía Reviews

Uniquely and definitely among the world's top museums, for its 1,500 years of heritage and blend of Christianity and Islam.

I like historical places this place is the most famous in world its amazing and miracles still I m searching how they build this legend building with the high doom and decoration i can t describe it i will post some photos to see the art of old people .

What a awesome architecture with church converted to mosque and now a museum.. everyday you can see thousands and lacs of visitors however the visitors and queques are very well managed .the tickets are quite expensive with 60lira but trust me worth spending to explore amazing experience..you can also find English speaking guide right outside the museum with additional fees..

All very impressive, except the renovations that are taking place took away a lot of the splendor and historical impact

a combination between Christian & Islamic cultures in one place. i do recomend to take a guide or the audio guide to know the details for everything.

Beautiful, colourful, historical monument. Worth the queues.

This isnt like anything you have seen before..it is amazing!

Great place! Go early in the morning, queues are horrendous by midday!

It's one of the most beautiful and most special places in Istanbul. So much history, so many stories around this monument.
In first the Orthodox church, then the Mosque and now a museum. Long history. Interesting facts.
It's a very huge structure, from outside and also from the inside. So many details inside. From the Orthodox church period mixed with Muslim details.
There is some special energy inside this building.
I am so glad that i have seen the Hagia Sophia.
This is something that you are obligated to visit if you are in Istanbul.

What place has surprised you the most? The Hagia Sophia in #Turkey is one of the coolest things I ve seen in my travels. What was once a church, and then a mosque, is now a hodgepodge of different faiths and welcomes all to visit. This massive structure is currently an official museum, depicting Greek Orthodox frescoes and Arabic messages of faith and devotion, all under the same roof. It was built on 537 AD, and has withheld the test of time as an iconic landmark in #Istanbul.

Very different from it's cousin in Rome, but when the age, the magnitude and the history is taken into account this should be one of the 7 wonders.

IoSophia museum across two religions - symbol of humanity prevails over communalism ,

It was build for more than 1600 years and still look amazing, a must visit place

Excellent! !! Being there was a great experience. Impressive architecture!

It's really nice to go inside this place. A building fund of history. A good advise: don't buy the audio guide, it's not good and all the information it's either written on the boards or you can watch the instruction videos at the entrance of the musk (which are quite good).

Amazing places. Full of historical artefacs and paintings. Must visit

The cathedral known as the largest for a thousand years is an absolute monument of the European influence in the east.

The history managed to intervene the pompous architecture of orthodox Christianity with delicate elements of sunni Islam.

Here you will find 11th century frescos depicting the great Byzantine emperors with illustrations of the God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, placed next to Quran verses dictated by the final prophet of Allah, Muhammad ibn Abdullah.

In this truly remarkable place you can fully experience all unexpected curves of history that shaped the world as we know it today.

When Sultan Muhammad fateh took over on qustutunya he changed this church into masjid.

The place to see to great religions merging and the history of two great empires

Hagia Sofia. It was build in AD 537,originally it was church and later in an ottoman empire it was converted into mosque and now it is a museum

You must come to see that miracle. 1500 years of human history dud not destroyed it.

Not really a museum and there is not much information given about the hagia Sofia, but non the less a beautiful building and has a famous cat!

A must see! I would advise to take the audio guide for a nice guided visit through the site. Note: there are plenty automatic tickets machine around the main place to avoid the queue at the entrance.

Definitely a life changer. I had been looking forward to seeing this wonder for ages ever since I'd learnt of its malleable history as first a church, then a mosque to its current status as a museum.
During my visit in the off peak season it was partly covered up for maintenance but that did not reduce its Majesty at all.
The size of the dome and sheer magnitude of the structure makes you really respect the ancient architects and engineers that planned and built her.
From what I could hear from behind the cordoned off areas I really hope they are uncovering more of the hidden mosaics!

Amazing crafting and colors. Beautiful historical place

The Hagia Sophia was once of the first places we went to here in Istanbul and it was quite an experience. It was nice to see the there was serios effort being made to restore the hidden mosaics and frescoes but that being said, it is a construction site with jack hammering and chiseling distracting from what otherwise would probably be a magical experience. It really is a stretch to call it a museum because it was so bare and devoid of artifacts and with so little information to go by that you almost have to go with the overpriced and hard-selling tour guides who almost do not take no for an answer. They will offer to have you skip the line for what i recall was about TK150 on top of the entrance fee. One guys said that he didn't ned a guide because his female companion liven here in Istanbul for years to which the tour guide replied that that isn't as good as the 5 years he spent studying history. That was a bit tacky.
The only other option was the audio tour headsets for TK30 which were useless as they didn't work right and was so haphazardly put togther that it was difficult to follow and understand.

Huge mosque. Restoration still going on. Do go on the second floor during your visit.

Probably the most outstanding architecture that stood for 800 years until the Italian renaissance. Built by the Byzantines 1500 years ago, this can be covered in 2 hours with an additional hour for the blue mosque which is right next to it.
Tip: If you are going to visit Turkey for over 5 days, you will save money with an all inclusive MuseumPass that is available for 315 LRY as of 2018. The pass is valid for 15 days and all over Turkey including Istanbul, Ephesus, Antalya and Cappadocia, etc.

A place to definitely visit, the history of religious co existence

Hagia Sophia is not just a museum, it's a spiritual place, you will feel a mixed emotions just the moment you step in, the glori of different religious in one place and peace.

Ps: Don't waste your money in buying a fast track ticket, it's all the same and nothing special, get yourself a regular ticket, save 30 tl. and enjoy the place.

Great place for people that like historical places.

Very interesting seeing a history of a city reflected off this great building and museum.

Very informative of the islamic values. Great tourist attraction.

When it was a church it was the greatest in Christianity, then become the greatest in the Islamic world after Mecca and now is one of the most amazing museums in the world. I feel amazed each and every time I visit it. Don t leave Istanbul without seeing this masterpiece..

Beautiful structure. The designs in there are beautiful. It is just amazing to see that such an outstanding structure was built so long ago. It is a must visit in Istanbul. It is a great place to just reflect and observe.

While it is not well cared for in the outside, inside it is magnificent. I recommend paying for the audioguides, given they explain each part of the museum, and tell you interesting stories.

Extremely interesting experience, nice tour guides.

I love this place as it has such a great view just looking at it feels out of the world

Great Architecture and great ornaments. With they should be many.

Place which shows that every religious must be respected and ottoman shows this to the world

The pray in this mousqe is a different experience, wonderful feeling

It's a ottomon age building which was both mosque and church. The architecture inside was simply amazing and the size of dome is outstanding. Must visit place in instanbul

Must see. Make sure to go up to the upper gallery and see the mosaics.

MA SHA ALLAH.SUB HAN ALLAH. VERY VERY BEAUTIFULL MOSQUE

Very impressive place of the strength of the world. Good logistics, you buy ticket in automat and you are in the museum in 5 min

One of the most iconic landmarks in history. Beautiful, majestic, a 1400-year monument of human engineering

So sad they made the place ugly by putting some cheap giant circle wooden panels up so it can be a mosque instead

It was incredible for me to stand in a place that was long ago built.
Who likes to go to the places like this it will surely have something interesting to see

Praise be to God, who thanks to him and then thanks to this government that he was returned to a mosque and prayers are performed in it .. God is Great

What a place to visit absolutely brilliantly preserved the whole atmosphere as you walk towards it is amazing really worth visiting

A great historical place, so much relevance true history. This place is an architectural wonder, it's influence is felt true Muslim and Christian culture and architecture. The most fascinating thing is how this holy place brought together such differences in order to survive and tell its story.

A must see when in Istanbul. Take your time admiring the details.

A must see historical place to see if you're traveling to Istanbul

Unique example of Christianity and Islam confluence

It's an amazing arcitecture example blue mosque topkapi museum and many more.

Need more repairing
#IndonesianWhoLovedTurkey

One of the best places one can visit in this life, from the perspective of works done by human civilization. The experience is humbling, thoughtful, and fully immersive. So much human history lives in the stones and within the dome.

It is a true privilege to have been able to visit this in my life. The tour by Welcome stanbul was well managed and informative. Hal was a tremendous guide and hostm

The queue is too long and not disciplined at all - some guys were passing without line all the time. The price also very high 40 tl and getting higher soon. But the temple itself is fantastic and not comparable!

Really gorgeous place. Large doors, high ceilings make you feel so small in comparison to it. Everything there is nicely organized and labeled so you can listen about almost each piece of this museum. And of course it impresses of how much effort was done to construct it. Amazing!

Of the must see places in Istanbul, if possible get a local guide as there is so much history here both religious and non religious with out a guide we would have missed it.

Beautiful orthodox church. Shame that is occupied and almost destroyed by turks.They should return it to Christians.

Nice touristic place on the European side of Istanbul..
Easily accessible par tram , which his popular in Istanbul..
Tickets are little expensive but worth..
One can have normal tariff as to compare with fast track..as there is no need.

It is very incredible place and Hagia Sophia is the former Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal cathedral, later an Ottoman imperial mosque and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. Built in AD 537 at the beginning of the Middle Ages, it was famous in particular for its massive dome.

One of the oldest buildings and historic monument. Hagia Sophia is a must see and besides it's fascinating interior, it shows how two cultures and religions can coexist in one building. Sorry to see we are much less tolerant and respectful nowadays.

Way too expensive. Nothing else except a photo opportunity.

Too much construction so limited view of the dome. Highly recommended when in Istanbul and must go up the 2nd floor

Nice and worth the money for entrance... Get the museum pass better...

I have been there before in 2015 but this time it was like a Spiritual Travel. The Thick Green Carpet added the beauty and elegance of this Masjid and I had goose bumps while praying. The upper story was closed due to renovation.