Santa Sofía Reviews

Probably one of the most spectacular places I have ever visited in my life. A must if you visit Istanbul!

Absolutely stunning buildings, and there's loads of like ancient ruins everywhere and Greek and Roman buildings left to

Nice place that shows tolerance where u can see the Christianity and Islam mixed together

Looks pretty from outside, but there is always a line and you have to wait from 20-40 minutes. Ticket is 60 lira.
Svakako oti i pogledati, ako vam se da ekati. Tako er pored reda stoje "turisti ki vodi i" koji nude karte i njihov obliazak d amije.

Any tourist will appreciate the beauty and the history of this place. A true must have. This church is so dramatic in its size that even during the busiest day you'll not feel cramped inside. Imagine a 1000 years ago, what it was like to build such a masterpiece in a city with merely 200,000 people.

An orthodox will have a nostalgic pain deep in their heart of the times passed standing in this holy place.

Stunning museum with greatly preserved Byzantine frescoes.

A beautiful gem in Istanbul. It is like a magical trip in the history. You became a witness of so many nations art and lifestyle in one place!

Excellent and way way better than blue mosque that's being renovated inside (nothing to see).....make sure you go early before the crowds and best avoid weekends....local tour guides suggest that going with them you jump the queues...not the case...your better off on your own.....don't forget to go upstairs to the galleries....this was originally built as a Catholic Church.....

Transports you back in time, magnificent architecture which fills you with awe as soon as you enter - and it just keeps going! Don't miss out the balcony view upstairs, it takes on a different level of brilliance and a closer look at the upper structure and design. Utterly fascinating to see how Islamic and Christian design influences stand side-by-side here in harmony, and it just works. An absolute must see.

Nice place to visit and discover
Little expensive specially that the place is under renovation so only few areas are open to visit
To avoid the crowd, you should avoid going there during weekend

Great historical place, it's a must to visit, you can see the Islamic and Christian history here

fantastic museum ! has alot of history ! a must to visit

Loved the vibe it was giving me. It was enlightening to see how the religions all pitched in to this beautiful mosque of history. As a catholic it s truly honorary to know that I am still being represented within this building. The Virgin Mary is definitely well respected within this building and it shows.

Interesting place to see. Early morning queues moved quickly

what a beautiful building . but your passes early or online if you can , the lines can easily set you back by an hour of two .

Amazing to see a building that's been involved during such historical periods

Its a cats on the hagia sophia
Is cute
Im zulfa rahmi from indonesia
And thankyou

Hagia Sophia Museum has a very rich history of almost Steven hundred years the building has two floors. Currently some area is under construction (Please check the review date) overall its views from outside are really awesome and inside there was rush of visitors. Long queues are very frequent.

Great to go even if you are not a history buff....soak in the iconic building's glory

Definitely must see. We bought priority tickets (90 TRY vs. regular 60 TRY) which saved us a lot of time to get in

Amazing structure. A gem from the past. A must visit place. It's always crowded though but staff is fast n friendly

A must-see in Istanbul! It s better to buy ticket ahead of time as the ticket line is long.

Ancient church changed to a mosque. A magnificent example of convergence of Islam and Christianity. Must see!

Must visit place. This is quite amazing structure. Acoustical engineering marvel. Lot of changes had been done by the Ottoman empire

Stunningly beautiful even though there was a lot of restoration work going on, definitely worth a visit.

A beautiful place! The flower gardens all around ! A good place to sit and watch the crowd.

Amazing historical monument and architecture telling a lot of history

Unbelievable beauty...Marble everywhere!
Worth the price of admission..Great History!

The mixture between Islamic and Christian civilization is just awesome

Spectacular construction and beauty in one remarkable building.

Loved spending my time here, if possible get a guide! So much his in this place.

We spent nearly three hours inside the Hagia Sophia. There s a lot to see, and all of it is fascinating. This is the kind of place where even the floors, doors and walls have stories to tell. I m serious: this circular pattern in the floor marks the Omphalos, where Byzantine emperors were crowned. That massive wooden door is the Imperial Gate, reserved for the entrances of the emperor and his family, and rumored to have been made from the wood of Noah s Ark. And there in the wall, you ll see one of the church s magnificent Byzantine mosaics.

One of the best attractive places I've saw in my trip! Amazing place with a lot of items and historical things though the ages, in the Christian til the Osman's time. I loved a lot the audio guidance for every spot you go, but unfortunately the audio guidance wasn't so accurate because sometimes we had to search in the spot about the things he mentions without successfully finding them out! Also the payment was so expensive in my opinion, me and my wife payed 80 TL for the entrance, and payed another 30 TL for the audio guidance! Whereas we entered the "Blue Mosque" and other huge places for free

A must see tourist place. A chapter in history lesson. Well kept site which is thronged with visitors during tourist seasons.

Great historical place. Nicely maintained. Tourist friendly.

If you are in Istanbul one of the place you must visit!

Very impressive monument to celebrate the victory of Ottoman era.

Read everything you can about it and then go see it. It is... amazing. Grab a guide of you like but take plenty of time to stand in silence and enjoy the incredible majesty of this museum.

It was big at has an audio system and there is a fast pass for 50 lira and the normal is 40 lira it's nice and some Christian's must not like it

8 Apr 2019. Second time being here. Restoration of this church and mosque has been on-going for too long.

The main prayer area is well decorated with Quranic verses. Very high roof indeed. However the lighting is not bright perhaps to protect the delicate relics inside.

At one corner you can see murals relating to Christianity as this building was a church previously. Efforts are taken to preserve this precious remnant of history.

Istanbul is a amazing place that everbody must see everything is historical

It was jam-packed with tourists from all over the world. It was very beautiful. I went there in winter, but the weather was very cool. I didn't have warm clothes but it was such exciting that i didn't notice cold weather.

Great Coloss that survived through the centuries. Looks a bit weird from outside, but inside you can find a gem that definitely costs entry fee.

Audio guide was interesting, but a bit chaotic.

A most amazing awe inspiring building - one of the wonders of the world. So glad I have been able to visit and admire the craftsman ship, devotion and power that led to its construction and preservation.

Amazing place to visit and walk around with so many interesting things to look at. There is a cafe outside and a gift shop. It is also closed Mondays. Go up stairs inside for an amazing view of the inside. One of the best places to visit in Istanbul.

A mosque and church are in one premise forming one of the best museums all over the world.

Amazing place for the two of the biggest religion of the world

Make sure you have plenty of time to visit this place. There is A lot to see.

this is my bucket list destination, glad that I finally can visit here

Must see site During the Christian Byzantine era the Hagia Sofia had burnt down and been rebuilt as the largest Basilica in Turkey Once the Ottoman took over the Basillica was converted to a major Ottoman imperial Mosque Today the Hagia Sofia is a museum and visitors are open to view the area that shows segments of Islamic and Christian artifacts of the past One can find the Sword of the Prophet David. Peace be upon him ,the Staff of Prophet Moses Peace be upon him Also the Sword of the Holy Prophet Mohammed Peace be upon him and also an imprint of his foot and also many important artifacts of past Islamic history

Must rent audio guide in your language to know the historic place

Good place to visit and discover religious tolerance.

Wonderful experience, the structure really blows my mind, you have to pay an entrance but for me was worth it.
Sadly it was really crowded. But I totally recommend going.

Beautiful, but majority of section were under renovation, and we did not have access to it. However, since we went during COVID, not much people were there, so we could have nice viewing of Hagia Sophia.

One of the must visit places and for me it definitely lived up to expectations

Stunning architecture, amazing colours and the work that went into making this beautiful building is incredible.

Amazing place. Friendly staff. Fascinating to discover the centuries of history