Hagia Sophia in Istanbul on the map. Hagia Sophia (Aya Sophia) in Istanbul

Cathedral Hagia Sophia in Istanbul or Hagia Sophia Mosque is one of the main attractions and business card. For a long time, this Orthodox church was one of the largest churches in the world. Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest examples of Byzantine culture. Hagia Sophia is sometimes called the “eighth wonder of the world.” The Hagia Sophia Mosque now operates as a museum and is under the protection of UNESCO.

Story

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was built on the site of an ancient acropolis. First, in 360, the Roman Emperor Constantine built a cathedral in honor of Sophia of Divine Wisdom on this site; it stood for 75 years, and then was destroyed in a fire.

Soon another cathedral was rebuilt, but it suffered the same fate; it burned down in a fire in 532. By the way, there is a Cathedral in honor of Sophia (St. Sophia Cathedral) in Kyiv, if you are in the city, I advise you to definitely visit it.

Current Saint Sophie Cathedral Construction began in Istanbul under Justinian I; 10,000 people took part in the construction. Hagia Sophia was built in record time in just five years. An untold amount of money was spent on the construction of the cathedral. The ceremonial illumination of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople took place in December 537.

For almost 1000 years, the cathedral was a symbol of Byzantium and remained one of the largest Christian churches until the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. The height of the dome of Hagia Sophia is 55m, and the diameter is 31m.

In 1453, Constantinople was captured by the Turks. Turkish Sultan Mahmed Fitih the Conqueror entered the city and was amazed by the beauty and enormous size of Hagia Sophia. He ordered not to touch the Orthodox church, but to turn it into a mosque. Hagia Sophia was renamed Hagia Sophia, a minaret was added to it in the western part, and then three more minarets.

In 1935, under Ataturk, Hagia Sophia was converted into a museum.

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Hagia Sophia) how to get there

Hagia Sophia is located in the center of the old city in the Sultanahmet area. To get to the cathedral, you need to go to the T1 Sultanahmet tram stop and walk a little. You will see Hagia Sophia right away. The square near the cathedral is always noisy and crowded both in winter and summer :)

Hagia Sophia Istanbul opening hours

Hagia Sophia Museum opening hours:

• from 9:00 to 19:00 from April 1 to October 31
• from 9:00 to 17:00 from November 1 to March 31

The ticket office closes an hour earlier.

Price

The cost of a ticket to the Hagia Sophia Museum is 72 liras. Tickets are sold at the box office in front of the entrance, where there is always a huge queue.

Hagia Sophia: our review

First, you have to stand in a rather long line for tickets, and then another similar line to enter the cathedral itself. We were inside Hagia Sophia several times: on New Year's Eve on December 31 around lunchtime and in May on a weekday after lunch. Each time I had to stand in line for about half an hour.

They sell delicious corn nearby, so you can refresh yourself while you stand in line. Very convenient :)

Upon entering the Cathedral, bags are carefully checked and passed through a metal detector, just like at an airport.

Hagia Sophia amazes with its size. The length of the cathedral is 81 m, width 72 m. Light enters through 40 windows; due to the large amount of light, it seems that the dome is floating in the air.

You can go up to the second level, to the galleries and view Hagia Sophia from above.

The frescoes and mosaics of Hagia Sophia are of great interest, many of them have survived to this day.

One of the attractions of Hagia Sophia is the Weeping Column. You need to put your finger into the hole, make a wish and rotate your finger 360 degrees. The wish must come true!

The cathedral is so huge that you can walk around it for a long time. We really liked the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul: it is amazing in size and has a very strong energy.

If you wish, you can take it.

And we are impressed and go out into the street, into the square between two shrines: Hagia Sophia and the current one. It is always crowded here. Even in winter, flowers and green trees are planted on the square, and a fountain is turned on.

And in the summer it’s even better: you can lie on the grass and watch the commotion around you :)

And in the evening, Hagia Sophia is beautifully illuminated. The square includes

If you are planning to visit Istanbul, I recommend booking your hotel in advance. It is best to live in the Sultanahmet area, within walking distance of Hagia Sophia.

It is one of the recognizable symbols of the city and attracts thousands of tourists every year.

The cathedral has an interesting and long history: for one and a half thousand years it was a Christian temple and mosque, and currently it is a museum with unique exhibits and is an architectural monument.

Visit to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Address where the Cathedral is located: Hagia Sophia Square, Sultanahmet quarter, Fatih district, Istanbul, (Ayasofya Square, Sultanahmet Fatih/İSTANBUL). You can get to it by tram running along the Eminonu-Zeytinburnu route, as well as by any bus that goes from the Beyazit or Eminonu areas towards Sultanahmet.

Currently, the facility operates as a museum during winter (April 1–15) and summer (April 15–October 1) times.

In the first case opening hours– 09:00–17:00, in the second 09:00–19:00. Every Monday, as well as during the first days of Ramadan, the museum is closed on the day of Eid al-Fitr, Hagia Sophia is open from 13:00.

History of creation

The history of this church begins around 320-330 AD, during the reign of Emperor Constantine. At that time it was a Christian temple, which was rebuilt several times over the next two centuries, although the remains of the very first complex are partially preserved today.

Can't decide what time of year to go to Turkey? Read about weather conditions throughout the year.

Construction of the first temple

Founded at the beginning of the 4th century, the temple received the name Martyr Saint Sophia, and a little less than a century later (in 404 and 415) it was almost completely burned out in fires twice, but was restored each time. The Christian basilica erected on this site after the second fire also stood for about a century, and in 532 it was also destroyed by fire.

After this, at the behest of Emperor Justinian I, a grandiose construction project began. new cathedral. More than 10,000 workers took part in the work, and the materials used were marble, ivory, gold, silver and other most expensive materials that could be found in the empire.

The temple remained the Christian Cathedral of Hagia Sophia until the 14th century, when Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans.

Construction of a mosque

On May 29, 1453, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II officially proclaimed the temple Hagia Sophia Mosque. In the same year, the construction of four minarets around the cathedral began; additional redevelopment was carried out: initially the altar of the cathedral was facing east, but now it was necessary to remove it and move the mihrab to the south-eastern corner of the temple.

I wonder what frescoes depicting Christian subjects were not destroyed by Muslims and even remained in the temple, although they were plastered over.

It is thanks to plaster that these frescoes have been well preserved to this day.

The emergence of the museum

The mosque performed its functions until 1935, then, due to the separation of religion and state in Turkey, the temple was abolished, giving its building to a museum. At the same time it was carried out interior restoration, including - the plaster was removed from the frescoes, and all decorative elements (both Muslim and those remaining from the times of the Byzantine Empire) were also restored.

Despite the fact that today the St. Sophia Cathedral is one of the main and most visited in the country and the capital, bringing good money into the city treasury, since the beginning of the 21st century there has been an active advocacy by Istanbul public figures and even some politicians in favor of the museum being closed and the cathedral again became a temple.

Interior of Hagia Sophia - photo

The cathedral is considered the largest temple built in the last few thousand years (not counting several Greek temples, of which only ruins remain today). But Hagia Sophia attracts tourists not because of this scale, but unique design and rich decoration both outside and inside.

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Exterior design

Cathedral parameters can be described as follows:

• length- 100 meters;
• width– 69.5 meters;
• dome height– 55.6 meters from ground level;
• dome radius– 31 meters.

In addition to marble, which was the main building material, the builders of the cathedral also used special bricks made from clay and sand, brought from the island of Rhodes. Despite their lightness, these bricks are highly durable, so for seventeen centuries the church has not shrunk. From an architectural point of view, the cathedral is rectangular basilica classic type.

Under the main, above-ground part of the structure, there is underground part, which is mostly flooded with groundwater. Despite this, during the restoration it was possible to carry out a partial study of the underground premises. In some of them, jewelry and human remains were found, which presumably belonged to Muslim noble residents of Istanbul.

An underground passage was also discovered, which leads to the underground part of another local attraction - Topkapi Palace.

But there are still vast unexplored areas - work can only continue after pumping out the water.

Private sponsors back in 2010 agreed to finance the work of pumping out water, but despite the official consent of the authorities, this project has not yet been implemented.

Interior decoration

There is not a single wall in the interior of the cathedral that is not decorated glass mosaic, terracotta, silver or gold. Also here you can see many frescoes, some of which are only partially preserved, but most have survived thanks to the Ottoman plaster with which they were once covered.

On the right side of the entrance there is a section of the floor covered with multi-colored stone ornaments. This is where the ritual was once held coronation of the emperors of Rome. Inside the cathedral, along the perimeter of the lower gallery there are 104 columns, in the upper gallery there are 64 - these columns were made of marble and transported to Istanbul by sea.

Mihrabs(special elevations that perform the same functions in mosques as altars in churches) were installed here in the 16th century, but at the same time they fit organically into the overall picture and look as ancient as the other elements. This also applies to the forty lamps that are located in special niches of the dome - they appeared here in the first half of the 16th century. Until that moment, the room was lit with ordinary candles.

Mosaics

Mosaics are the most valuable objects in the cathedral.

Valuable attractions of the temple

In one of the columns of the lower gallery there is niche, in which, according to legend, one of the priests who conducted the last Christian liturgy in 1453 hid from the Ottomans.

There is a hole in this niche, and according to legend, if you insert your thumb into it and, without removing it, rotate your palm 360 degrees, any wish will come true (obviously, this action is impossible).

In one of the apses (altar recess) there is a mihrab, which was placed here in the 16th century. It's right here minbar(tribune, pulpit in mosques), which appeared in Hagia Sophia at the same time.

Going out into the courtyard of the temple, you can see an exhibition of artifacts, elements of ancient decor and other items that were discovered by researchers during restoration and examination of the underground part of the cathedral.

Other temples of the Turkish capital

There are two more temples that are inferior to Hagia Sophia in terms of the luxury of the interior and the scale of construction, but tourists should visit these attractions, as they have no less cultural significance.

Orthodox Church of St. Irene

This church forms part of the architectural ensemble of Topkapi Palace. The Church of St. Irene was originally only small basilica, which was built in the 4th century a little earlier than the construction of St. Sophia Cathedral.

The Temple of Hagia Irene is notorious for the fact that in 346 there collided in a fight representatives of different religious denominations, as a result of which about 3,000 religious ministers and ordinary people were killed.

Currently the temple operates as museum, and from time to time exhibitions and concerts are held within its walls.

Church of St. George

The church is named after St. George the Victorious and was erected in 1601. At that time, the Fener district, where the church was built, was the only Orthodox district of Constantinople, which fell in 1453.

In 1614, the temple was partially reconstructed and expanded. In the first half of the eighteenth century strong fire significantly damaged the building, but under the patronage of Patriarch Jeremiah III, reconstruction work was carried out in 1720.

In 1738 there was a new fire, after which the church stood abandoned until 1797, until another restoration.

These restoration works were the last, and since then the architecture of the church has remained unchanged.

Watch exciting video about Hagia Sophia:

Ayasofya Müzesi) in Istanbul is an outstanding monument of Byzantine and world architecture, a symbol of the “golden age” of Byzantium, which is sometimes called the “eighth wonder of the world.”

The cathedral is named after the wisdom of God (from the Greek sofia - wisdom).

Hagia Sophia includes two religions: Christian and Muslim. Built in 537, the cathedral has been repaired and restored many times and is now a museum. Today the official name of the monument is “Hagya Sophia Museum”.

The unique cathedral rises majestically above the Hippodrome Square. Everyone deserves to feel the centuries-old atmosphere of this place and see the magnificent interior that has been preserved to this day.

For five years (532-537), ten thousand workers worked to build a new symbol of Constantinople.

To build this unique temple, the Byzantine ruler Justinian hired two great architects of that time - Isidore from Miletus and Anthimius from Thrall. A hundred more architects were brought in to help these talented craftsmen, each of whom had 100 masons under their control. In total, 10,000 workers (5,000 people on each side) were involved in the construction of the cathedral. Justinian spared no expense in the construction of the temple. Every day he dressed in a simple linen robe and personally supervised the progress of construction. The workers received their salaries every day.

To ensure that the construction of the shrine did not stop, monetary tribute was collected from all Byzantine classes. The entire treasury of the empire, collected over 5 years, could not cover the costs. It is known that Egypt’s budget was spent for the year only on the choir and pulpit! The emperor ordered marble and stone ruins of various buildings from all over the country to be supplied to the capital. For example, unique columns were brought from Rome, Athens and Ephesus, which to this day delight with their grandeur and stature. Snow-white marble slabs were sent from Prokones. Pink marble was brought from Phrygia, red and white from Iasos, pale green from Karistor. Huge marble stones were sawn so that various images were obtained from the veins - figures of animals, people, trees, plants, fountains, etc.

This was probably the most unusual construction project in the entire history of the Byzantine Empire. Most of the building materials were brought from shrines belonging to almost all pagan religions. For example, the porphyry columns of the lower tier of the cathedral were brought from the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus and the Temple of the Sun in Baalbek. The lime mortar was prepared using barley water, and the cement mortar was mixed with the addition of oil. The upper altar table was generally made from a newly invented composition - a mixture of gold and precious stones.

What was the construction idea worth - the temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was supposed to surpass the famous temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem.

Most of the marble used in the construction of the temple was brought to Constantinople from Anatolian deposits, the Mediterranean basin, several other ancient quarries, as well as from the famous Athenian Mount Pentelikon, from whose marble slabs 10 centuries before the appearance of the Church of Hagia Sophia, the Acropolis Parthenon was built in honor of the Goddess Athens.

The temple was made of brick, but much more expensive material was used for decoration. Ornamental stone, gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, and ivory were used here. Such investments greatly tightened the treasury of the empire. Eight columns were brought here from the famous Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.

According to historical information, about 130 tons of gold (320,000 pounds) were spent on construction. Thus, the Church of Hagia Sophia became the most expensive project during the entire existence of the Byzantine Empire.

The construction of the Church of Hagia Sophia was carried out under one of the most famous rulers of Byzantium - Justinian. It is with his activities that the strengthening of the power of the Byzantine Empire is associated.

The temple was built over approximately five years, about ten thousand workers worked on it, and on December 27, 537 the cathedral was inaugurated. The building materials were marble, stone and brick, and material was also brought from distant churches that were throughout Byzantium. During the construction of the cathedral, special attention was paid to the dome - to prevent it from collapsing during earthquakes, a special brick was used, light and durable, which was made from materials on the island of Rhodes. The inside of the cathedral was decorated with expensive stones. Over time, Hagia Sophia was destroyed several times and then rebuilt.

Interior of Hagia Sophia

When the Crusaders captured Constantinople in 1204, they converted the church to Catholicism and expelled the Orthodox priests. At that time, a large amount of treasures were barbarically removed from the temple.

In 1453, the Byzantine Empire was captured by the Ottomans. It was during this period that Fatih Sultan Mehmet (1451-1481) converted the cathedral into a mosque for Muslims, which was the main mosque until 1935.

On February 1, 1935, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Council of Ministers decided to transfer the mosque to the status of a museum, which opened its doors to local and foreign tourists.

As long as the cathedral has existed, it has always been the center of attention of all religions of the world. The council was both Orthodox and Catholic, and then became Muslim. The cathedral is still a shrine for religious people, but at the moment it acts as a museum.

Hagia Sophia: architecture

The entrance to Hagia Sophia is through a spacious courtyard, in the center of which there is a fountain.

Dome of Hagia Sophia

A total of nine doors lead to the temple; only the emperor or patriarch had the right to enter through the central door.

Once there were 214 window openings inside the shrine, but today there are only 181 (the missing ones were covered with buttresses and later buildings).

In addition to the Ottoman siege, Hagia Sophia suffered many disasters, including 2 earthquakes, which left a mark on the church. The damage was so severe that in the 19th century there was a threat of complete destruction. Misfortune was avoided only thanks to Padishah Abdul-Mejid, who invited restorers from Italy to restore the shrine.

Experts say that the walls of the shrine have strength indicators that were amazing for that time. According to assumptions, the builders were able to achieve this result due to the fact that an extract of ash leaves was mixed into the main solution.

Mosaics in Hagia Sophia

In the past, the walls of the temple, or rather their tops, were decorated with paintings of various themes and mosaics. In 726-843, during the iconoclasm, these beauties were destroyed, so in our time we cannot fully appreciate all the splendor of the interior of the cathedral.

Later, the creation of new artistic creations continued in the temple, and in 1935 restoration work began to restore ancient Orthodox frescoes and mosaics.

Today, one of the most valuable elements of the interior design of the cathedral are ancient mosaics. Conventionally, they are divided by experts into three historical periods:

1. 9th century (beginning);
2. IX-X centuries;
3. end of the 10th century.

Icon of the Virgin Mary in Hagia Sophia

Particularly valuable is the mosaic image of the Mother of God, dressed in dark blue, made on a gold background and located on the apse. The magnificent color combination of gold and dark blue emphasizes the spirit of Byzantine grandeur.

Even by modern standards, the temple building has quite impressive dimensions - 75x68 meters.

A distinctive feature of the Hagia Sophia is its beautiful dome, with a diameter of 31 meters, the height of the dome is 55.6 meters. Looking at it, you get the feeling that it is floating in weightlessness and the light of the sun seems to be coming from the cathedral itself.

In the middle of the central dome, surrounded by 40 windows, there was once an artistic depiction of Jesus Christ. But after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, this image was painted over, and a sura from the Koran was applied over the updated coating.

In the apse you can see an image of the face of the Mother of God. It was she who was considered the patroness of the temple and associated with wisdom (Sophia).

Legends and interesting facts

Skip-the-line tickets to Hagia Sophia and guided tour with a historian from Istanbul Welcome Card

There are some unusual places with mysteries in the cathedral. One of them is a weeping column covered with copper, which, according to legend, can make wishes come true. Also, if you lean against it with a sore spot, healing will occur. Another mysterious place of the Cathedral is the cool window, from which cold comes out in any weather and a slight noise is heard.

The handprint of the Sultan who conquered Constantinople has been preserved in the cathedral to this day. There is a legend that the Sultan rode into the cathedral on horseback, leaned his elbow on the column and there was a print of his palm left there. The print turned out high because his horse walked over a large number of corpses.

The main feature of the temple is that it combines elements of Orthodox and Islamic cultures (images of Christ, the Mother of God and excerpts from the Koran). Particular attention should be paid to the inscriptions on the stone parapets, the history of which dates back several centuries. The oldest of the inscriptions are considered to be the runes that were left in the temple by the Scandinavian Varangian warriors. To date, they have been coated with a durable transparent coating that protects the historical property from abrasion.

Hagia Sophia: how to get there, opening hours and cost of visiting in 2019

The terrace of the Four Seasons restaurant offers magnificent views of Hagia Sophia

Entrance fee 72 Turkish lira (separate ticket).

If you purchase a Museum Pass Istanbul card for 220 liras (which allows you to visit attractions without queues and at a lower price), then visiting the cathedral is included in the price of the card.

Hagia Sophia can be easily found by standing at Hippodrome Square (T1 Sultanahmet tram stop). You can get to the cathedral via a group tour or on your own. At the entrance to the cathedral, not far from the ticket offices, there is a kiosk where you can rent an audio guide - 45 liras. You will need to leave a document (passport) as collateral.

If you prefer to walk on your own, then our fun audio guide in Russian, which includes all the main historical monuments of Sultanahmet, is perfect for a sightseeing tour. This is not only a time saver, unlike an excursion with a group, but also a monetary benefit. Available for Android and iOS.

The Hagia Sophia can also be reached by the T1 light rail line, which passes through Sultanahmet. The cathedral can be seen from afar by its dome.

Hagia Sophia on the map

Of the many, perhaps the most popular and most visited is the Cathedral (Istanbul). Locals call it Hagia Sophia. They proudly display this grandiose structure to all guests visiting the country. And this is no coincidence. The cathedral in Istanbul, the photo of which is featured in all advertising brochures of travel agencies, is a magnificent building with a rich history, original architecture and original interior design.

It witnessed numerous historical events of ancient Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), its history is full of various, often tragic events - earthquakes and destruction, fires and wars. Nevertheless, the Cathedral survived and today delights not only local residents with its grandeur, but also numerous guests of the city.

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul: history of creation

It will seem strange to many that for more than 1000 years this building was the largest temple in the Orthodox world. The first building on the site of the current Cathedral appeared in 360, during the reign of Constantine. The relatively small basilica was covered with a wooden roof and had the appropriate shape.

In 404, during civil unrest, the building was burned. Theodosius II ordered its reconstruction in 415. The new basilica had five naves and also had a wooden roof. In 532, after popular unrest (Nica's uprising), during the reign of Emperor Justinian, this building was also destroyed.

There is no reliable information available about who built the previous temples. But the names of the creators of the current building are well known. These are Anzemios and Isidoros. The Hagia Sophia was built thanks to the same Justinian. The architecture of the new building was significantly different from the previously existing basilicas.

First Temple

The cathedral church was founded in 532, and five years later (in 537) the first divine service was held under its arches. Later, Hagia Sophia became a permanent place for the coronation of emperors of the Roman Empire. In July 1054, within the walls of this temple, the representative of Leo IX (Pope of Rome) - Cardinal Humbert and Patriarch Michael Kirularius excommunicated each other (anathematized). This event became a cause for concern among Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

Construction of a mosque

Between 1204 and 1261, Istanbul was occupied by the Crusaders. At this time, both the city itself and the church were seriously damaged. Having conquered Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed began to establish Muslim orders. The Cathedral building was well strengthened, additional support pillars were installed. Thus, the Hagia Sophia mosque appeared on this land. During the reign of Sultan Mehmed, a madrasah was built - a Muslim educational institution that existed until the 17th century.

Creation of a museum

In the 19th century (1847-1849), another reconstruction was carried out in the Cathedral. The Fossati brothers, who were architects at that time, removed the compartment where the emperors once prayed. It was located in the northern part of the temple in a small niche, and a mihrab was added to the left. In 1935, Hagia Sophia (Istanbul) was declared the house museum of Mustafa Ataturk.

Since 2006, after numerous appeals from believers to the government of the country, Muslim rituals were allowed to be held in the temple. Church historians claim that it was the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul that became the place where the ambassadors of the Russian Prince Vladimir were introduced to the idea of ​​the Orthodox religion. Shocked by the beauty of the service held here, they advised the prince to convert Holy Rus' to the Christian faith.

What does Hagia Sophia look like in Istanbul?

The magnificent temple has the shape of an oblong quadrangle. It forms three naves: one (middle) is wide, two side naves are narrower. The basilica has a quadrangular cross, which crowns the dome. The huge dome system of the temple is a masterpiece of religious architecture of its time.

According to Turkish researchers, the strength of the Cathedral walls is achieved by adding an extract of dry ash leaves to the (construction) mortar. The center of the wide nave, square at the base, is bounded at the corners by four columns, which are supported by huge arches and covered with a flat dome (31 m). Its peak is 51 meters from the surface of the earth. The dome is made up of radial arches. In its lower parts, located in the inter-arch spaces, there are 40 arched windows cut through. This creates the feeling of a huge light belt located at the bottom of the dome.

Even by the standards of modern builders, the building has very impressive dimensions - 75x68 meters. Most of the architectural and technical solutions that were first used when the Hagia Sophia (Istanbul) was built were subsequently used in religious architecture around the world.

Interior decoration

Hagia Sophia (Istanbul), a brief description of which tourists can find in travel agency brochures or in a city guide, is especially impressive with its enormous size upon entering.

The interior decoration of the temple continued for several centuries. She has always been luxurious. The walls of the Cathedral were completely covered with mosaics (both ornaments and subject compositions). The different colors of marble used in construction make the first two floors dark gray, almost black. Closer to the dome (in the upper tiers), the walls seem to be cast in gold.

The main feature of this amazing structure is the harmonious combination of Muslim and Orthodox religions. The names of the Prophet Muhammad, Allah and the first caliphs are written in Arabic script on four large medallions. Between the medallions there is an Orthodox fresco with the face of the Virgin Mary.

A visit to the second floor of the temple makes a huge impression on all tourists. From here, Hagia Sophia (Istanbul) looks even more majestic. Here you can admire the beauty of this ancient structure. On the second floor you can see the famous marble gates. At one time, it was they who separated the main premises of the Cathedral from the imperial rooms.

Mosaics

The most valuable element of the interior design of the temple are ancient mosaics. Experts conditionally divide them into three historical periods:

• 9th century (beginning);
• IX-X centuries;
• end of the 10th century.

In 1935, restoration work began to restore ancient Orthodox frescoes and mosaics. Historians especially appreciate the image of the Mother of God (mosaic), which is located on the apse. It is made on a gold background. The Virgin's robes are dark blue. This magnificent combination of gold and dark blue emphasizes the spirit of Byzantine grandeur.

The apse and altar are surprisingly well preserved, next to which you can see the Sultan’s box. During the services, the ruler was present here along with his entourage and sons. Opposite there was a box for women from the Sultan's family. An important element of the interior decoration is the huge wall panels, which are executed in the classic Ottoman calligraphy traditions.

Unfortunately, not many mosaics have survived today. One of them depicts the Virgin Mary with Emperor John II. At one time, this ruler allocated huge funds for the construction of this temple.

What should you pay attention to?

The place of traditional coronation of Byzantine emperors is the omphalion. It consists of marble circles located on the floor of the cathedral.

The Weeping Column is covered with copper. There is a small hole in it at a small height (at the level of human height). As the ancient legend says, if you put your finger into the hole and make a wish at that moment, it will certainly come true.

The “Cold Window” is another attraction of the ancient temple. It is curious that on the hottest day a cool, refreshing breeze blows from this window.

Among the Hagia Sophia mosque, it is worth noting the perfectly preserved mihrab and altar in one of the apses of the temple. In addition, these include a carved marble minbar, which was created in the 16th century during the reign of Sultan Murad III.

Tourists will certainly be interested in a separate box for the muezzin. It faces Mecca - the tomb of the Ottoman sultans. Of great interest is the inspection of the primary school building, library, fountain and center for the poor, which were built by Sultan Mahmud I in the 17th century.

Working hours

If you are planning to travel to Turkey, we recommend that you definitely visit the Hagia Sophia (Istanbul). The address of this amazing historical and architectural monument is: Aya Sofya Sq., Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey. We are confident that you will be satisfied with your visit to this magnificent building.

It should be noted that Hagia Sophia (Istanbul) awaits its visitors every day. Opening hours vary slightly depending on the season. In summer (from 15.04 to 01.10) the museum is open from 9.00 to 19.00, and in winter - from 9.00 to 17.00. Ticket sales end at 18:00 in summer and at 16:00 in winter.

The cost of visiting the museum is thirty Turkish lira, and for young visitors (under twelve years old) entry is completely free. You can check the lira exchange rate with your travel agency immediately before your trip. Anyone who wants to visit the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul should know that the temple is closed during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

How to get there?

If you are planning to visit the museum on your own (not as part of a tour group), then you should know how to get to it. This is quite easy to do by using public transport. You will need a bus (route T4) or light rail (TR1). The stop you need is called Sultanahmet.

Those interested can take the metro (Havalimani-Aksaray) from Ataturk Airport to Zeytinburnu station. Then you need to transfer to the TR1 tram, which will take you to the place. If you live in the Sisli area, you can take the metro to Taksim station.