urShadow's Blog: Review: Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya), Istanbul, Turkey

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On our 2nd day in Istanbul, 24th February 2015, after visiting Hippodrome we went to visit Hagia Sophia at 8:45am. We had planned it early morning to avoid crowds and that plan worked well for us. After completing the visit I wished it was still a mosque, the entrance would have been free, it would have been better maintained and it would have been nice to offer prayer in it considering it showcases one of the great conquests of Muslims.

Location: 41.008451, 28.980999 (Near Hippodrome and Blue Mosque)

Opening Time:

Monday Closed
Tuesday - Sunday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (off-season)
Tuesday - Sunday 9 am – 6:30 pm (in-season)
Last entry 1 hour before closing time

Ticket:

30 TL
Included in Museum Pass
20 TL for Audio Guide (It is a good idea to bring your own headphones)

Time Required: 2hr

Tips for Visitors:

Eat/drink before arrival. There are food stands/cafes outside, but because its high tourist area thus the prices are also according to that.

Although we visited it as soon as it opened in off peak season but still there was crowd and it took us some time to get the tickets (actually we bought 5 day museum passes from there, which didn’t come out to be a good idea), this gave us an idea how it would be like in the peak season. I have read from other people that they had to stand in long lines/queues to buy entrance tickets.

To save time, you can buy tickets from tickets kiosks, which are not near the entrance thus can be difficult to find. If you are facing the main entrance of Hagia Sophia then they are some 100m away on the left. The exact location is: 41.007275, 28.979614

Some Renovation Work is going on inside thus if you have a choice then you can visit it once its renovation is complete.

There is not a lot of information given inside so you need to do your homework or take an audio guide or actual guide in order to know what you are looking at.

The entry fee gives you access to Ground floor and 1st floor but the entrance to the 1st floor can be missed easily thus don’t forget to visit the 1st floor from where you can have nice views of the ground floor. The way to the 1st floor is through cobblestone ramp, historically to make it easier for the servants carrying the Queen Mother up to her spot in the women's area of the mosque but as you don’t belong to the royal family thus you will be walking the ramp but the walk upstairs is pretty interesting.

Mysterious Hagia Sophia:

Hagia Sophia is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica (church), later an imperial mosque, and now a museum (Ayasofya Müzesi), Opened 537, sophia being the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom, contains many religious artifacts, but the building itself is the truly incredible sight.

As the Hagia Sophia's power grew they brought riches from all corners of the Byzantine Empire to the church from doors they believed to be made from Noah's Ark, to large marble doors from conquered temples. It is said that the immense bronze doors were looted from a temple in Tarsus, which makes it around 2200 years old. In 1204 Crusaders overtook the Hagia Sophia and controlled it for the Roman Catholic Church until 1261. During the years of Catholic control many of the Hagia Sophia's riches were sent to Venice Italy. The Ottomons did actually had to move the niche because the original Christian Church was built to face Jerusalem while the prayer niche in a Mosque needs to face the Muslim holy city of Makkah.

To the legend, Hagia Sophia was important as Vatican. There were tunnels reaching to Princes Islands (Kinaliada) starting from Hagia Sophia. The underground tunnels covered the city of Constantinople. The huge cistern that a galley may sail was beneath earth. The tunnels under Hagia Sophia were reaching to Crypto rooms and the rooms for secret writings. The treasures were hidden beneath Hagia Sophia due to the sieges.

There was no certain information about any burial beneath Hagia Sophia. The divers who were given permission to explore what is under Hagia Sophia revealed some graves, Sophia, St. Antinegos, the first person to be buried in Hagia Sophia from the 13th century and Patriarch Athanasius– both the reality beyond the legend. The team reached two narrow corridors of about 70 centimeters height through Sultanahmet Square and Topkapı Palace, possibly were used by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II in the 5th-century as a hidden tunnel in order not to be seen by the public. Any trace of such legendary long tunnels or secret rooms is still a question after the permission taken just for one day. Yet, there are places to be discovered.

International Speleological Society of Bogazici undertook the search of the tunnels under the main hall of Hagia Sophia. They found two stone tunnels towards to Sultanahmet Square and Topkapi Palace. Both ends of the tunnel split into two after 50 meters but the passages were closed.

One of the searchers Aydin Menderes moved towards the direction of Topkapi Palace until he saw daylight between the stones. He used a pen camera to see that he had reached the palace yard. He went back to enter another tunnel which led to two rooms. There were bones and broken jugs which were expected to be the gravesite of St Antinegos who was the first to be buried in Hagia Sophia and the bones of Patriarch Athanasius.

The first to explore was the reservoir close to the entrance. It is 12 meters deep and the divers found two thick pieces of wood and a bucket which turned into dust when they were touched.

In the second reservoir they found a dozen flasks dated 1917, glass from the chandeliers, a chain with two rings at the end and pieces of stained glass.

Walking Tour – Ground Floor:

Although we had read on the internet that we will get a brochure at the entrance of the Museum which will have a great map and most points of interest will have an English description plates near them so learning and exploring on the fly would be easy but this was not the case and we didn’t get any such information at the entrance.

We had read that the first door we will walk through is the bronze gilded Nice Door which was installed in 838 A.D. The door is actually the oldest artifact in Hagia Sophia as it is believed to be from 200 B.C when it was made for the Pagan Temple in Antiock. Some say that the making up the core of the door is made out of wood from Noah's Ark. In our case this door came while exiting the Hagia Sophia so maybe they have changed the entry and exit points.

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The main hall is quite huge, considering the time when it was built, no doubt it was spoken of so high.

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On the left side you would see massive Marble Lustration Jar. There is a matching jar in the opposite back corner of the nave as well. The jars were originally carved the Hellenistic period and brought to Hagia Sophia in 1580 A.D. from the ancient acropolis in Pergamon. Each jar was carved out of a single block of marble.

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As you move to the prayer niche at the far end of the nave you'll see and inconspicuous square roped off in the middle of the floor, this is the Omphalion. Notice how the floor is different here with a series of different colored marble circles. This spot is not only where the Byzantine Emperors would sit during service, but is also where the coronation of every Emperor took place.

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Before moving closer to explore the prayer niche you can really notice how off center it is from when the Ottomans moved it from facing Jerusalem to Makkah during the conversion to a Mosque. Also notice the huge 24 foot wide Arabic medallions hanging above the Apse. To the right is a tall stair column called the Mimber where the Imam would give Friday services.

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Sitting high on the left, totally enclosed in gold lattice, is the Sultan's Loge. The lattice provided both privacy and protect against assassination.

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Walking Tour – First Floor:

To reach to the 1st floor, you will have to take the dark Ancient Ramp; the winding and uneven ramp is dimly lit and has the feel of exploring hidden corridors of a medieval castle. While there may have been stairs at one point, the ramp was very important as Sultans and Emperors were often carried upstairs by their servants or rode up on horseback. When you emerge from the ramp notice how most of the columns upstairs are made out of green marble instead of white.

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After you've taking in the views continues along the railing until you get to the large white Marble Door. The door was used by members of the church council to enter meetings.

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While coming out from The Beautiful Door, you will find:

From 20150224-23 - Istanbul Day 1 and 2 - Riyadh Airport - Grand Bazar

Hagia Sophia Museum |

http://ayasofyamuzesi.gov.tr/en

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