Hagia Sophia Mosque
771 review
November 10, 2024
Very unpleasant staff! We went as a group of 10 adults and we were followed by a lady from the security, who was picking on absolutely everything: we were looking at the wrong way and standing in the wrong place, we were asked to move, while in the same aisle there was a huge group with a guide. And so the whole tour we were harassed, criticised and pressed. We were covered, did not break the rules, behaved culturally and talked quietly. In the end, the lady called the head of security, and then we couldn't stand it and got indignant. The lady was never able to explain what rules we had broken and what she didn't like. After paying 25 euros we were subjected to reprisals. This is not hospitable and absolutely inappropriate! Shame on you, security staff. Don't overstep your authority by hating people based on nationality or religion.
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March 19
No wonder it’s one of the wonders of the world
December 13, 2024
So beautiful and historical place
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December 7, 2024
It’s a must visit place!
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January 22
Didn't get inside but the view is so magnificent. Will come again another day
March 13
Very Historic Mosque
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December 13, 2024
Magnificent
January 5
Beautiful!
3
August 19, 2024
So dangerous to be there. There are a lot of street sellers and pickpockets around.
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January 18
St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul is an outstanding monument of Byzantine architecture, the former Greek Patriarchal Orthodox Cathedral. For almost 1,000 years, it was the largest Orthodox church in the world and the center of religious life in the Byzantine Empire. In 1453, after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, by order of Sultan Mehmed II, the temple was transformed into the Hagia Sophia Mosque.
After 2020, St. Sophia's Cathedral was restored to the status of an active mosque, but the building is still accessible to visitors. Entrance for tourists is paid 1,500 liras per person. Children under 8 years old are free of charge.
Near the entrance, you can meet Russian-speaking and English-speaking guides.
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November 13, 2024
A stunning cathedral, everything is very majestic inside, just a huge space that you want to consider. In 1453, the Ottoman troops who entered Constantinople looted St. Sophia Cathedral, then it was still Christian. But it was not completely destroyed, but converted into a mosque and named Aya‑Sophia. At the entrance to the mosque, shoes must be removed, there are special storage boxes. If possible, be sure to visit this legendary building, which is the greatest symbol of Istanbul.
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February 13
A very beautiful and historically valuable place)
However, there is expensive ice cream, if you go a little further away, it is much cheaper, and they squeeze the most delicious pomegranate juice there) I don't think I've tried it)
There are cafes on the opposite side - the food is so-so. The price is like in Milan)
It's better to take a 5-minute walk down towards the bay. It's very tasty there.
Anyone with children and a stroller is not comfortable there.
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October 17, 2024
A unique place. The Hagia Sophia 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". In 2020, by decision of the State Council of Turkey, it has the status of a mosque, while the second floor is still a museum. The entrance to the cathedral costs 25 euros. A truly historical architectural monument that united Muslims and Orthodox under its arches. I definitely recommend that you familiarize yourself with the history of this amazing place before visiting, then you will not need a guide. Thank you for your time!
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March 16
It is a very beautiful and majestic place. A monument at the junction of two faiths. But the entrance for tourists is only on the 2nd floor for 25 euros (on the second floor there is a view to the 1st floor, and several frescoes are not in very good condition). At the same time (especially remembering our 2nd capital) I would like some kind of repair or restoration. It would be boring without a guide. There are also many Orthodox, ancient icons stored near Sofia, which are not on display.
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March 18
It was my dream to see Hagia Sophia. And I did it!!!! The view of the cathedral is amazing. It's a very magnificent building. It's even more beautiful in the evening light. And when we went inside, we were speechless from what we saw from the inside. That's where the centuries-old history is felt. A life hack for tourists: if you feel sorry for the entrance to the cathedral of 5 thousand for two, then come to the cathedral by 10 p.m. And they let you through without any problems. And even to the first floor. The entrance to the tour tickets is only on the second floor.
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January 20
Great Sofia!! It's an incredibly beautiful place!! The second floor was opened for tourists, where the Orthodox frescoes are located. There are signs with a description next to each one, if there is a translator in the phone, I recommend using it and reading it! I recommend you to visit, despite the current price. In January 2024, it was 850lr.
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October 20, 2024
My favorite place in Istanbul. A beautiful historical monument. Both as a mosque and as a temple, this is a very sacred place. There is always a feeling of peace and love in the heart, regardless of religion
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March 17
Everyone knows that Catholics have St. Peter's Cathedral, the main center of world Catholicism in the Vatican, but few people know that the Orthodox had their main Cathedral, the center of world Orthodoxy in Constantinople (now Istanbul) St. Sophia's Cathedral, which is right in front of you. Today, this cathedral is the Mosque of Istanbul. But, despite this, the spirit of world Christianity, our spiritual roots, adopted by the Russians from the Byzantine Empire, is still felt in it. Moreover, after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turkic tribes who professed Islam, they began to build all their future Mosques in Istanbul and beyond on the basis of the very ancient Christian project of St. Sophia Cathedral, they really liked It, practically changing nothing except the creation of their minarets.
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March 11
A magnificent monument of Byzantine architectural art. If you have a good guide. The tour will be interesting and informative. It is a pity that it is not possible to examine all the mosaics. But the overall impression is a grandiose monument.
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January 3
A huge cathedral, nearby there are other shrines of Istanbul that are very beautiful, five minutes walk from the sea. I recommend it!! There are also many good small hotels and delicious restaurants nearby.
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December 24, 2024
It is worth returning to Istanbul and visiting this mosque again. People of all nationalities notice Al Sofya for themselves. Perhaps everyone is comfortable in it. Spaciousness, grandeur, simplicity. People come here to pray, to feel the peace and power in this peaceful place. I don't want to leave, this is a paradise where you can hide from the hot sun and restore tourists' strength.
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December 12, 2024
This is the heritage of mankind, as
- architectural building
- interior and decoration as an achievement of imaginative art and aesthetics
- as a place of inspiration and spiritual charging for people of all faiths (Muslim, Christian, Catholic, etc.)
, you always miss something from the outside and from the inside. And I always want to visit her again!!!
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February 25
I will write not about the cathedral itself, but about the technique of visiting and the museum of its history, because all the enthusiastic reviews are correct and correspond to reality, but there are nuances.
Tickets for foreigners are sold on the right side of the cathedral. You can only buy a visit to the temple (it costs 1000 lire, which was not 25 euros, but 27-28), or you can buy the cathedral + the temple history museum (1800 lire). The entrance to the cathedral for tourists is next to the ticket office.
For 1000 liras, you can go up to the balcony and walk around the temple on the second floor. It usually takes 15-30 minutes. The first floor is accessible only to locals.
There are actually only 3 small sections of Orthodox mosaics, on the opposite side from the entrance.
A few words about the museum. In fact, it's multimedia! There are very few exhibits there. In fact, they assemble a mini-group and show in several clips about the creation of the temple and its history since 1453.
The ticket office actively advises taking tickets with the museum, but these expenses, in my opinion, are unnecessary. But if you don't know at all about the history of the temple, then it will be useful to visit the museum and it is better even before visiting the temple.
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February 1
The entrance to the balcony, from which you can view the cathedral's interior and see the mosaics, costs 25 euros in January 2025, but there is a caveat. At the ticket office you will be offered a ticket with a visit to the cathedral museum, it sounds tempting, we agreed. This ticket costs twice as much, and if Sofia is definitely worth any money, then the museum is a waste of time. It is located in the distance, on the square opposite the Blue Mosque. For your money, they will show a cartoon - you will move from room to room and listen with headphones and watch videos about the history of the cathedral. The cartoons are made in the spirit of blockbusters, and the text is very biased. The rest of the museum, after the cartoon, is a collection of things from different eras. Coins, books, icons, everything is rather chaotically assembled, we did not feel the depth. The signatures are quite lengthy, all in English. As a result, the museum is worth a cultural visit, to see how the Turks imagine the history of St. Sophia and the world. If it's not particularly interesting, then save your money.
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November 13, 2024
This is one of the main attractions of Istanbul! A very beautiful mosque, breathtaking! I definitely recommend everyone to visit!!! You have to be there to feel all the greatness and beauty!
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December 30, 2024
I was deeply disappointed by visiting the mosque, 5 years ago it was an amazing museum and all the most interesting things were on the ground floor. Now it is an active mosque, the entrance to the ground floor is only for prayer-seekers. For Z0 €, you can only walk along the balcony of the 2nd floor, while you can not approach, there are restrictions on passage everywhere. It's just like the rest of the world lately. There is no more desire to come
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November 12, 2024
It's just a delight, for lovers of objects with a long history, it's a must-visit, the scale of construction is simply impressive! A huge vault! The place is really sacred, although lost to Christians, some of the frescoes were opened to tourists
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November 12, 2024
Entrance is paid. There is a ticket for only this one mosque, there is a little more expensive, but to several locations and with an audio guide. They check at the ticket offices next to the entrance to the mosque. There are cashiers who can explain it quite well in Russian. There was no queue just before the opening. I don't remember the time. But the queues are moving fast. The males are not allowed in the mosque, go straight upstairs to the balconies. From there, you can see a little below. There are signs with explanations, we translated with an online translator. It's a nice translation, but mostly understandable. I recommend it at any time of the year.
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November 11, 2024
It's amazing!!!! after the cathedral, I advise you to go to the Hagia Sophia Museum, the entrance is opposite the German fountain at the hippodrome.
A unique place of its kind , striking to the depths of the soul .
Yes , it 's expensive !!!!! But it's worth it, the fantastic story of the temple and then the mosque.... Through the ages …
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December 4, 2024
You get into it and it takes your breath away from the beauty and majesty!!!! The spirit of Sultans and sultans reigns there!!!! Under the competent story of the guide, you just get into these times!!!! We were in November 2024, to my great regret, the 1st floor of the mosque is closed directly to the passage, its beauty can only be viewed from the balconies of the second floor! The frescoes of the icons are very well preserved, the faces of the saints are energizing! But, big but!!!!! The price this year is just incredibly high - 1,690 litas for one!!!!
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February 13
There is a beautiful historical building outside. There are benches in the park and some in the shade. There is a toilet nearby, the entrance is on the Istanbul map.
Inside the queue, it is long and relatively expensive. I wasn't, I won't say anything...
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February 24
This is a place worth visiting.
The ticket now costs 50 €, it is a ticket to visit the cathedral of the "Christian part of it" and the museum. You can choose a cathedral or a museum separately, the price is 25 € for each visit separately.
But I would recommend taking both, first go to the museum, there you will learn the whole story and it will be much more interesting to walk in the cathedral.
The place is majestic.
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March 20
A magnificent human possession. Very beautiful inside and out. But the way inside is not particularly open for tourists. Mostly for believers only. But you can also try to pass as believers.
For tourists, there is a separate entrance for one small fresco for 25 euros.…
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March 1
I found a very good hotel in the old part. I arrived at 1 a.m. We waited and settled in. Everything is just fine. In the morning I walked around the city, had a delicious and satisfying meal for little money.
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December 13, 2024
Of course, it's interesting, the main thing is not to compare it with the blue Mosque, that's where the really impressive and beautiful architecture is, and even free admission, and the entrance to Hagia Sophia in autumn with the museum cost 50 euros
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January 10
The grandiose structure is impressive both inside and out. Frescoes, mosaics, carpet, lamps. It's a pity that you can't go everywhere, the entrance to the 1st floor is free for Muslims to pray, tourists only go to the second floor for a fee. There is a Wi-Fi and a free audio guide in Russian (on the billboard at the entrance, you need to scan the quarkode and take your headphones.)
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February 18
This is the main place in Istanbul to visit. Everything about it is amazing - beauty, grandeur, fundamentality ... it's a pity that the 1st floor is closed to the public - the mosque... but to touch the history, to feel the very Byzantium, to realize that miracles happened here and Grace stayed here. If I still find myself in Istanbul, I will definitely go to Sofia.
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November 4, 2024
A dream has come true, the great history of Orthodox Christianity has been touched by a small
hint: tickets for 2 parts are offered at the ticket offices of Hagia Sophia - the museum and the second floor of the cathedral. The museum is 5 minutes from the cathedral. In the cathedral itself, only the second floor is allowed, only Muslims can enter the first floor.
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December 29, 2024
A beautiful historical building. It's a pity that it's no longer a museum. But you can still get in. A unique architectural masterpiece. Touching the columns of the cathedral feels like you're touching history. And this feeling is quite justified, because the cathedral is almost 1.5 thousand years old.
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February 16
You should start exploring Istanbul from this monument. The entrance is expensive, but what can you do? The mosaics are luxurious, but unfortunately there are few of them. I recommend buying a ticket only inside the mosque (formerly the cathedral). So much has been filmed and written about him that there is no need to go to an interactive museum. The attraction is not included in the museum map. I'm attaching a photo. 4 stars for the cost of the visit. It is unreasonably high for such a small number of preserved mosaics. There are many more in the former monastery of Khora, now it is the Kariye Mosque. I am attaching a photo from Sofia, photos from the monastery of Khora can be viewed in my other reviews!
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5
January 18
Grandiose, monumental, exciting, epochal. So many centuries, so many events inside this cathedral.... The tour is better with a guide, Russian-speaking Turkish guides work 100%. It's expensive, but it's worth it. After all, when will you come here again?..
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October 24, 2024
If you come to Istanbul, then this place is a must-visit! I think this is the same idea that everyone who comes to Istanbul is guided by, because the queues there are quite long. We need to look out for a time when there will be fewer people.
Moreover, it is a little inconvenient that you first have to queue for tickets, and then join the queue at the mosque itself.
By the way, there are two types of tickets: only the upper tier and a ticket to both parts of the mosque. The prices are quite high, as in principle for all the sights of Istanbul.
But it is definitely worth visiting this place to touch one of the most famous cultural monuments!
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March 15
A majestic place with incredible energy!
The ticket price is, of course, very high. I recommend buying a ticket only to Sofia, and not going to the museum. They show a short cartoon and a poor exposition.
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November 15, 2024
Monumentally, Vayb was not caught and there are questions about Turkey's discriminatory policy. Why do guests pay more than locals? We didn't decide where to be born or what nationality to be. Why do you even have to pay to enter one of the most important places in the history of your Orthodox religion? I don't think it's fair to close the entrance to the first floor for non-Muslims. According to the rules, Muslims come to pray, but even there some women are not allowed into the common room with their husbands — okay, their business, but the "believers" themselves do not pray, but immediately rush to take pictures. Let either everyone pay and go to the museum, or no one pays and access to the floors will be equal. Otherwise, it is a segregation policy.
On the case: on November 24, admission costs 25€. It is profitable to pay in euros, not lira, if you change it. You can buy a ticket at the ticket office at the entrance to Sofia — there is usually a huge queue there. And you can also go to the ticket office at the museum. It will be a couple of euros more expensive, but without a queue, if you only have a cache. There are two options for visiting at the ticket office: there or "there and back" — this is the cathedral itself or the cathedral + museum. We took the cathedral and the museum. It turned out to be 2 times more expensive for a ticket. For this price, we walked around the top, listened to the audio guide a little — the Wi-Fi is slow, the AR is sluggish. And in the museum you will actually watch a cartoon for 25€. The most interesting exhibit is the archangel mask. In the evening, Sofia is not illuminated from the outside in any way, compared even with simple mosques, which also suggests a disdainful attitude towards the cathedral
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March 22
If you are going to Istanbul, be sure to see Hagia Sophia! It's very crowded here, and you can buy tickets for tourists yourself at the ticket offices on the square. Well, if you are Muslims, you can go inside for free during the service. It feels like cultures, an array of centuries-old history and modern life are intertwined here.
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November 29, 2024
I give 3 stars because:
On the one hand, it is a great building with an impressive history.
On the other hand, a lot of things require restoration, and the entrance costs a lot of money.
We thought for a long time whether to go or not, and finally went, deciding that we should visit such a place once. The building doesn't look very good from the outside, it looks very inferior to the surrounding mosques, although scaffolding is visible - I hope that restoration work is really underway.
Inside, too, sooo much needs restoration and repair. It's beautiful, of course, but it looks really shabby in places. I am glad to see Christian attributes in the mosque and giggle from my unbelieving bell tower over the confrontation of religions. Temple - mosque - museum - mosque - building changes from one "aggregate" state to another.
The cost of entry was shocking - € 25 for a walk through the upper floor with a view of the interior of the building and the lower floor "for believers". The entrance is like a cool museum, the rest of the existing mosques in Istanbul are free of charge. Therefore, this harassment of tourists is doubly outraged.
If you go, I recommend taking the option for 25 €, the second one is twice as expensive and, as they say, is not worth it. Although to be honest, the passage for € 25 is not worth your money, especially if you pay in lira, with the current exchange rate. But if you really want to, then why not) at the end they also offer to go into a small room, there is a fresco with Constantine (founded the city) and Justin (founded the temple).
At the checkout, the employee said that a ticket for € 25 is only for 10 minutes, as if time is limited, but in fact you can walk there for an hour in peace - it depends on how interested you are in history, religion, and so on)
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February 13
Just imagine, initially it was an Orthodox church, then a Catholic one, then a mosque, and for a very long time the building was a museum.
Now it's a mosque again. At the time of January 2025, admission for visitors costs 25 euros. You will not get down, you will only walk along the balcony. But it's definitely worth doing. There is a wonderful free audio guide in Russian (QR codes will be all along the route). The scale, the intertwining of cultures and the atmosphere are very impressive!
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December 19, 2024
Definitely this is the place that is a must-visit:
- we took a one-hour tour and went inside with a guide to learn the story and pay attention to all the details inside, understanding what/how/why
- an incredible place with history, atmosphere and energy
- the interior of the mosque is perfectly preserved, considering that the building of the 6th century, it is hard to believe the eyes
- the intertwining of religions in Sofia is very unusual and interesting
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January 28
It's a very beautiful mosque! Before that, it was a Christian Cathedral, where the Byzantine mosaic of Christ the Savior was preserved. This cathedral served as inspiration for the architects who built the cathedral for sailors (Kronstadt Cathedral) in Kronstadt just before the 1917 revolution.
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July 2, 2024
A place that is definitely worth visiting in Istanbul is to pay tribute to history and antiquity. The temple is more than 15 centuries old, the basilica-mosque-museum-mosque/museum has been rebuilt several times. It is located in the Sultanahmet district in the center opposite the Blue Mosque. There is a long queue constantly crowding the square in front of the main entrance - this is a queue for free admission for believers (and masquerading as believers). The ticket offices and the entrance for tourists are on the right side of the mosque from the side of the Bosphorus. Believers enter the lower part of the building, and tourists enter the upper galleries around the perimeter. It seemed to me more interesting to look at the beauty from above - more general plans, closer you can see mosaics, angels (only one of them has a face open), a general panorama of the cathedral, chandeliers, inscriptions, etc. Quite an adequate audio guide (included in the ticket price), but it is better, of course, to read in advance about the history of this miracle of Constantinople and already absorb the spirit of the times here. Together with the mosque itself, it is offered to visit the St. Peter's Museum for an additional fee.Sofia, which is located in the park opposite the Blue Mosque (walk 300 meters from Hagia Sophia). It is more interesting for children to move from hall to hall in small groups, accompanied by an audio guide and interactive paintings on the walls of the halls telling about the history of St. Sophia from the beginning of time to the present day.
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