Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque

Few buildings on earth carry as much history as Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Standing on the first hill of the historic peninsula, between Topkapı Palace and the Blue Mosque, it was for nearly a thousand years the largest church in Christendom, then an imperial Ottoman mosque, a museum for most of the twentieth century and, since 2020, once again a working mosque known officially as the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque.

History

The present building is the third on the site. Earlier churches dedicated in 360 and 415 were both destroyed, the second during the Nika riots of 532. Emperor Justinian I immediately ordered a new church, designed by the mathematicians Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, and it was completed in a remarkable five years, in 537. The original shallow dome collapsed after earthquakes in 558 and was rebuilt higher by Isidore the Younger, reopening in 562. The main dome, about 31 metres across and some 55 metres above the floor, seems to float on a ring of forty windows, an effect that astonished visitors for centuries.

After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II converted the church into a mosque. Minarets, a mihrab and a minbar were added, and in the sixteenth century the great architect Mimar Sinan strengthened the structure with buttresses. The Swiss-Italian Fossati brothers carried out a major restoration in 1847–1849 under Sultan Abdülmecid, when the huge calligraphic roundels by Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi were hung. The building opened as a museum in 1935 and was reconverted into a mosque in July 2020.

What to See

Since January 2024 the ground floor is reserved for worship, while foreign visitors follow a dedicated route to the upper gallery. From here you look down into the vast nave and see the finest surviving Byzantine mosaics of the building, including the famous thirteenth-century Deësis panel, the Empress Zoe mosaic and the Komnenos mosaic of John II and Empress Irene. The gallery also gives the best view of the dome, the marble revetment and the eight great calligraphic medallions.

• Deësis mosaic – Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, a high point of late Byzantine art.
• Imperial mosaics – emperors and empresses presenting gifts to Christ and the Virgin.
• The dome – a sixth-century engineering feat that influenced Ottoman mosque architecture for a thousand years.
• Ottoman additions – mihrab, minbar, the sultan's lodge and the calligraphic roundels.
• Marble and columns – coloured stone gathered from across the empire.

Visitor Tips

The visitor entrance and ticket office are separate from the worshippers' entrance, so follow the signs for the gallery visit. The fee for foreign visitors is EUR 25, and the Museum Pass is not valid. Visits pause during the five daily prayers and the Friday noon prayer is the busiest time of the week, so mornings are usually the most comfortable. As in any mosque, modest dress is required: shoulders and knees covered, and women should bring a headscarf.

Hagia Sophia is the centrepiece of almost every Istanbul old city tour, and a licensed guide brings the layers of Byzantine and Ottoman history to life. Combine it with the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, the Basilica Cistern and Topkapı Palace, all within a few minutes' walk, for a full day in Sultanahmet with Inca Tour.