Santa Sofía Reviews

Awesome place, well worth a visit if you're in Istanbul old town.

You can feel it's age in every column, every stone, every piece of marble. It's so old it's like it has a soul now. Very powerful place.

Beautiful building with historical story. Go inside to witness the real history of the building, don't just look at it from the outside.

The most breathtakingly amazingly beautiful museum on the whole PLANET! Words lak me to describe all my feeling I experienced after entering there. You got to see it to believe it.

Magical building. One of the oldest in the city. Impressive history, beautiful outside in the day and the night. Fascinating mosaics on the first floor. A must in your visit to Istanbul!

There is a reason this is called the 8th wonder of the world. How some Roman empire built a Christian church of this splendor and magnitude 1500+ years ago that had survived despite the earthquakes, conquests etc is pretty amazing

Quite majestic. Renovation and scafolding were the only annoying thing

I really enjoyed this place. It was really beautiful and a unique combination of two faiths in one place. I would highly recommend a tour guide to fully appreciate this master piece.

An amazing place to visit. This is one of the most beautiful and surprising attractions I had the chance to visit during my Istanbul stay.

Wonderfully rich in diverse culture, make time to visit when on Istanbul

Unfortunately go there on Monday during our transit and its close

Amazing preservation of the beautiful mosque and before church

Beautiful mosque which was church in the past went there couple of times and would like to come again if have chance. Must visit place if you come to Sultan Ahmet area in Istanbul

Worshiping cats in a mosque that was a church. Lots of renovations. Astonishingly beautiful mosaics.

Construction take forever, people managing very rude

Big Part of History, atmosphere of Hagia Sophia is unique. I recommend to visit it out of the weekend.

We cannot stop loving this place the more we visit the more we like and appreciate the efforts of mankind

MashAllah, great historically as well! May Allah have mercy on the Ottoman Sultans, Pashas, and Soldiers. Ameen

Loved it so much history would come back again when kids are older .

Typical tourist attraction
Needs a lift to go up

absolutely stunning cost about $20 us for 2 people to go visit it but it is beautiful

Hagiya Sophia museum so older and beautiful tourism place of Turkey this museum world tops beautiful museum lists I want go Istanbul and see the beautiful hagiya Sophia museum

Stunning piece of architecture, Old museum now converted into a mosque, inside and outside it has a space of 400,000 people to worship together

An amazing Art! Now it s a mosque and open to public for prayers

A very unique museum related to history of religions like Islam and Christianity

A beautiful tourist attraction combining islam and christianity under a single roof

I visited Hagia Sophia many times but I return over again....it gives me feeling of being connected with history in an unexplainable way. When being there I usually try to absorb tiny details. I like to keep silent and touch cold, smooth marble.

who want to see nothing special are on the right place

It was my 5th time at Hagia Sophia, and I felt the same way as the first time. It is such a sublime place.

Awsome but super crowded...
Go early in the morning, then it's OK...
During the day huge cue...
Audio guide is not included...

The most beautiful church of its time I guess. Now it's a museum. You should definitely visit it. nside is beautiful and huge.

Good place to see and put a tick in your travel list.

Beautiful place with tons of history from both Islamic and Christianity eras. A must visit place when u are in Istanbul. The place is near Sultanahmet easily accessible through bus or metro whichever u prefer. You can easily spent 2-3hours in this place.

We knew the stories before visiting. We were impressed once inside. Really worth the time!!! Be patient with the long queues. Really patient.

A must see place when you visit Istanbul. The line to entire the place is usually long. If you don't want to stand in the line then hire a local guide they usually have a pass with which they take you directly inside. You can find them around the entrance. You can identify them with the badges around their necks.

You have to visit. How they built this is unreal. Well worth the visit and inexpensive at 72l

History and grandeur in a mega dose. You will be awestruck!

Great place but is under refactoring and there are a few things you can't see.

This architectural marvel displays 30 million gold tiles throughout its interior, and a wide, flat dome which was a bold engineering feat at the time it was constructed in the 6th century.

Outstanding piece of architecture with a fascinating history!

Amazing place where you live the history in each step as you walk. Unfortunately it was under repair when I was there due to the earthquakes that hit.

Historic gem, take a walk back into time and feel the spiritual waves run through your body.

Nice mosque but museum doesn't have snyghing intresting... low quality audio guide

Great place with rich history regarding Christianity. Worth a visit when you re there.

Grand mosque, but only mosque to see, not much else, only a few artifacts and it is under construction

Absolutely brilliant place. A must visit if you are in Istanbul. So much history. I will suggest to have a guided tour as it is so much to cover.

A must visit whilst in Istanbul, particularly due to to its historical significance in the Ottoman era. 60 Liras to enter, so more than reasonable - do NOT get the fast track that some people attempt to offer you for extortionate prices, the queue time was no more than 10-20 minutes (I d recommend visiting around 5pm, as last entry is 6pm, but you have until 7pm to walk around). Not a vast amount of things to get through, by yourself you can do it in about an hour, however this is probably the one place I d recommend an audio guide, as from what I could hear, they were going into much more detail than what meets the eye! The design is incredibly interesting, combining elements of a church with that of a Mosque, plenty of amazing picture opportunities.

Hagia Sophia, where the east meet the west. Islam and Christianity meet in an interfaith dialogue where each faith displays their best philosophy and theology. We need to learn from Hagia Sophia; diversity, tolerance and respect.

Good place with good architecture, decoration, and good relic

I had a cat as tour guide. She just lost interest at some point and walk away. Incredible structure. The birth of the orthodox christianity. I hope the structure won't be turned into a mosque.

Beautiful, ottoman basilica in the centre of the city.Beautiful.

Truly a wonder, one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture from the Middle Ages. One can truly see history outlined from the date of its construction to today.

By far the best monument in Istanbul. If you don't know much details about its history, don't hesitate to choose the entrance ticket which includes the guide tour of the church. You will surely appreciate the information you will get from the guide person.

A must see when in Istanbul. So must history and such an interesting building, mixing Christian and Islamic art under the same dome.
Take your time and really take in the extraordinary marble floors and doorways.
The queue to get in can take a while, but I recommend just waiting rather than paying extra for a "tour guide". You can easily see the whole thing at your own pace.

One of the greatest building ever built by humans! No words or photos will describe this well enough. If you only had one place to see it's here.

So much history here at this attraction. It used to be a Christian basilica, then a mosque, so you'll see evidence of both, which is really interesting. It is now a museum. You can also get a nice view of Istanbul as well if you go to the upper floors.

History is the future. My favourite museum in the world

The passage of history and the changes tell the passage of different rules and religion.
The wise choice to recreate the original state with the adds and transformation into a museum was great.

Amazing place with rich ancient history dating as early as 1st century.

Impresive place where two religions meet each other. Sadly the reconstruction was inside of the building so you don't see all of basicilica/mosque/museum. But overall it's worth to visit