The Hagia Sopia Museum

Museum in Istanbul
Open Time: 09:30
Closing Time: 16:30
Closed Day: Monday
Address: Sultanahmet Square
City: Istanbul
Country: Turkey
Phone: (county code:+90 city code: 212 )522 17 50

Hagia Sopia is a masterpiece with a synthesis of Occident and the Orient, a unique example of architectural applications and is considered to be the one and only example in this pespect.

It is among the most important monuments have survived to today, now belonging to the history of architecture. Hagia Sophia was used as a church for 916 years and as a mosque for 481 years. It has been a museum since 1935

Byzantine historicans claimed that the first Hagia Sopia was built during the reign of Emperor Constantinus the 1st (324 - 337). This structure, which had the plan of a basilica and a wooden roof, burnt down during a rebellion. No remains of the structure have survived up to now.

Emperor Theodosius the 2nd had the building recontructed for the second time and reopened it in 415. This structure, which also had the plan of a basilica, burnt down in 532 during the Nika rebellion. Some remains from this structure were uncovered during the excavations carried out in 1936.  These are footboards pillars, crests and other architectural items. 

Emperor Justinianus ( 527 - 565 ) wished to construct a church large then Hagia Sophia and had Isiodoroos from Miletos and Anthemios from Tralles build the Hagia Sophia that we see today. 

The construction of Hagia Sophia was started on the 23rd of december 532 and was complated on the 27th of December 537. It consists of two lateral rooms apse and outer and interior narthexes. The interior room dimension is 100 x 70 m and is covered with a dome with a height of 55 and a diameter of 30.31 m. The mosaics of Hagia Sophia as well as its architecture are of great importance. The oldest mosaics are those that are decorated with golden geometrical and flower figures in the lateral rooms and interior narthexes. The figured mosaics were made in the 9th and 12th centuries. Those can be seen above the Emperors Gate on the apse on the upper floor gallery. Hagia Sophia experienced many restorations during the Turkish era, which started with the conquest of Istanbul. The surroundings of the altar include the most beautiful examples of the Turkish art of glazed tiles and calligraphy. There are sheets on which Ottoman Sultan wrote and that are placed on the side walls of the altar. Sultans tombs the fountain of Sultan I. Mahmud the school the soup kitchen, the library,the prayer platform of Sultan Abdülmecid and the prayer hours calculation room are the examples of the Turkish era in Hagia sophia and they contstitute the most beautiful examples of the classical Ottoman tomb traditcon in term of their architecture, glazed tiles and interior degign.