You literally go back in time when you visit the Hagia Sophia Mosque (Holy Wisdom). As you look around this beautiful building, you'll find unique details. Hagia Sophia is close to Topkapi Palace, and in 1985, the building was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Its architecture, size, beauty, and usefulness give it an important place in art.
The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is an amazing piece of architecture.
It has been through violent changes of empires, disasters, and many attempts to fix it up, and it is still stands today as a reminder of history.Every part of Hagia Sophia has a story, from its walls and floors to its dome and minarets.
As the Hagia Sophia went from being a church to a mosque to a museum and back to being a mosque, new architectural features and designs were always added. The interior is a fascinating mix of Byzantine and Ottoman styles. The Hagia Sophia has beautiful mosaics on every surface except the walls, which are made of marble. The mosaics were made with gold, silver, glass, terracotta, and different colored stones. Some of these mosaics are still present, including that of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and several emperors and empresses are among these.
Most people know Hagia Sophia for its beautiful dome in the middle of the building, with two half domes on each side. The dome's diameter is 102 ft 6 in (31 m), and its height is 182 ft 5 in (55.6 m).
The historic buildings next to the Hagia Sophia that belonged to the Ottomans hold five tombs. Even though the tombs were named after the Sultans, their wives and other family members were also found in them.
There were many secrets in the Hagia Sophia, such as tunnels, that no one knew about. The tunnels start at Hagia Sophia and go to the Princes Islands (Kinaliada). They covered the city of Constantinople when it was first built.
One tunnel was so big that a galley could sail through it, and others were used to hide secret documents and treasures when the city was attacked.
Hagia Sophia was made with marble from Marmara Island, Eriboz Island, Afyon, and North Africa. The white marble came from Marmara Island, the green porphyries from Eriboz Island, the pink marble from Afyon, and the yellow marble from North Africa.
There is a carved column to the northwest of the building, called a wish column, and a carved column in the middle of the building. Some sources say that this column became more revered by the public over time. So, people thought they would get better if they put their fingers in this hole in the column and rubbed their wet fingers over the spot where they felt sick.
Duration RequiredSultan Ahmet, Ayasofya MeydanI No:1, Istanbul 34122 Turkey
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