Saint Sofia

Saint Sofia or, as the Turks call it, Ayasofya is the symbol of Istanbul. It was built during the term of Justinian between 532 and 537 and is one of the masterpieces of Byzantine art. Between 1204 and 1261, St. Sofia was the church of the Pope. After operating as a church for more than 900 years, in 1453 it was taken by the Ottoman Empire and converted into a mosque. The Ottomans provided the church with four minarets, a theological school and a public dining room. In 1935, Atatürk transformed the temple into a museum, until recently, in 2020, it was converted again into a mosque. The interior of Santa Sofia is overwhelming: the dimensions of the main room (70 by 74 meters), diffuse lighting and monolithic columns receive visitors with open arms. Unfortunately, with the recent conversion of Santa Sofia into a mosque, the images are prohibited in the temple, so curtains have been placed to cover the historic mosaics on the second floor, in addition to the huge medallions that decorated the facilities. The second floor also preserves the tomb of Henry Darlo, a Venetian duke who died in Constantinople in 1205.

Phone:+90 212 522 17 50

Latitude:41.008583·Longitude:28.980175