The Holy Church of the Wisdom, Istanbul, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

Hagia Sophia, known in its time as the Church of the Holy Wisdom, is a great domed building in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, Turkey. Built for the Byzantine emperor Justinian I between 532 and 537, it has served as a cathedral, a mosque, a museum and, since 2020, a mosque again. Its enormous dome set a new standard for church building and still shapes the Istanbul skyline.

The story behind it

Christian worship on this site goes back to the fourth century, but the building you see today is the work of Justinian I. He had it raised as the cathedral of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and it was finished in 537. The architects were two Greek scholars of geometry and mathematics, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. Their dome rests on pendentives, curved triangles of masonry that carry its weight down to the piers, and Hagia Sophia is among the first buildings to use the technique on this scale. For close to a thousand years it was the largest cathedral in the world.

After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the church became a mosque, and minarets were added outside over the following centuries. In 1935 it was turned into a museum, and in 2020 it was reopened as a mosque. Few buildings show so plainly how many chapters a single city can contain.

What to look for

• Look up at the central dome and its ring of windows, which gives the vault a floating quality as the light changes through the day.
• Notice the huge round panels of Arabic calligraphy high on the walls, a reminder of the building's Ottoman centuries.
• Walk around the outside and count the minarets, which were added to the Byzantine structure at different times.
• Study the marble columns and the surviving Christian mosaics, where they are visible, to see the Byzantine craftsmanship up close.

Tips for your visit

• Because it is a working mosque, dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered, and expect to remove your shoes. Women are asked to cover their hair.
• Entry rules and visiting arrangements have changed in recent years, and visits can be limited around prayer times, so check current opening hours and access rules before you go.
• Allow about an hour inside, and go early in the day if you want fewer crowds.
• The Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, the Basilica Cistern and Topkapi Palace are all within a short walk, so it pairs easily with the rest of the old city.

See it on a quest

Mysteries of Constantinople: An Istanbul Riddle Quest passes this landmark on foot as one stop of a longer route through the old city. The app tells you about each place as you reach it, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you, so you look at the building far more closely than a quick photo allows. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever suits you, with no guide and no set departure time.