The Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral but it has also been a mosque, then a museum and it is currently a working mosque again.
The Hagia Sophia is located on the European side of Istanbul in the old city and has had an insecure history. It was initially built in 306 AD but it was destroyed by fires and earthquakes and the structure now standing was built in 558 AD making it almost 1500 years old.
Religiously it has also seen many changes through the years. From 360 AD to 1204 AD it was an Eastern Orthodox Church when it was converted to a Catholic church following the fourth crusade. In 1261 it was reclaimed to an Eastern Orthodox Church until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 when it became a mosque and minarets were added for calls to worship. It remained a mosque until 1935 when it became a museum. In 2020, President Erdogan converted the building back to a mosque.
When Byzantine Emperor Justinian I ordered the construction of the Hagia Sophia it was called the Great Church. In the 5th century it began being called the Sophia but continued to be referred to as the Great Church. After the Ottoman conquest in 1453, the name of the church was changed to Hagia Sophia which means “holy wisdom”.
View entering the mosque
The Hagia Sophia was the largest interior space in the world when it was built and the main worship room is still impressive when entering the mosque. It is 269 feet long, 240 feet wide making the area of the nave floor 64,500 sq. ft. As a mosque, it can accommodate approximately 10,000 worshipers with the nave floor accommodating 6,300, underground galleries accommodates 3,000 people and the balconies holds 700. My first reaction when I entered was to stop and try to absorb everything surrounding me.
Ceiling Features
After getting over the massive size, the ceiling becomes the main feature of the mosque. The ceiling is 180 feet tall at its highest point and the architecture is hypnotizing as I found myself unable to take my eyes off of it as I looked in all direction. One of the most interesting features were the four seraphim (six wing angels).
The most notable feature in the mosque are the eight huge wooden calligraphic roundels. They are 24.6 feet in diameter and display the names of Allah, Mohammed, his grandsons (Hasan and Hussein and four caliphates.
The most impressive part of the ceiling is the central dome. It is 102.5 feet in diameter and its height is like looking up at a 15 story building.
Circles and Arches
Circles and arches seem to be the predominate theme for the mosque. The central dome is round, there are calligraphic roundels, the windows are arched at the top, the structural columns support arches and even the chandeliers are rounded.
Other Mosque Features
Aside from the architecture, there are several other mosque features that I found interesting. Some of them are shown in the following photos.
Popular Tourist Attraction
I like to find off peak times to visit popular tourist attractions but I don’t think there is an off peak time here. The Hagia Sophia is a UNESCO World Heritage site and was a religious center during both Christians and Muslim empires. It is Turkey’s biggest tourist attraction with an average of around 50,000 daily visitors, with 25 million visitors during 2024.
Outside Highlights
The inside of the mosque gets most of the attention but the outside is also impressive. Similar to the inside, the central dome is the most impressive feature of the exterior.
The four minarets which are located on the four corners of the mosque rise up to the high point of the mosque. Three are identical and one is noticeable different. I think that the one that is different was built first and the other three were added later.
The Dust on My Shoes
All populated places change through time. Some places that I visit have historical sites that reflect a single period in time but others have remnants from multiple ages and this is the case with the Hagia Sophia.
The building reflects the religious changes that have occurred in the region over the centuries. From the outside minarets are a dominate feature that is obviously Muslim but the center dome is a feature common to early Christian churches. On the inside, it is easy to see architecture similarities to the European basilicas that I have seen but the Christian symbols have been removed and inscriptions of Islam have been added.
Change is a constant, what we see today will undoubtedly look much different in the future.
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I visited the mosque three years ago. The size is truly impressive, and maintaining such a building must be a massive project. I have had the privilege of visiting a mosque, which was an incredibly beautiful building.