Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophi a is one of the liveliest places in today’s Istanbul. People from all over the world visit this oldest structure with such a magnificent dome all day long with great admiration. . Hagia Sophia, considered one of the 8th Wonders of the World, is the number one structure of the architectural world. It is one of the rarest works that have survived to our time in this age and size.
Hagia Sophia has been kept alive by making treasury full of expenditures in every era. The conquest of the city by the Turks in 1453 caused the Hagia Sophia, which was in ruins, to be saved by turning it into a mosque immediately. The buttress walls added by the Turkish architect Koca Sinan in the 16th century, the architects Fosatti brothers in the middle of the 19th century, and other restorations made since 1930, and the iron belting of the dome are important repairs.
Hagia Sophia has been turned into a museum after 916 years as a head church and 477 years as a mosque, in the service of two different religions believing in the same god. After Hagia Sophia became a museum, the sultan’s mahfili section was opened for worship on August 8, 1980 for the first time. After a while (September 14, 1980), the Sultan’s Mahfi, which was closed for restoration reasons, was reopened for worship on February 10, 1991, and Hagia Sophia began to serve as a mosque, albeit partially. The lawsuit filed in 2005 at the 10th Chamber of the Council of State for the annulment of the 1934 Council of Ministers decision, which lasted for three years, was rejected on the merits on 31 March 2008 and the same decision was upheld on 10 December 2012 by the Council of State Administrative Litigation Chambers upon the appeal.
The request for correction of the decision made in 2013 regarding the said decision was also rejected on 6 April 2015. The case, which was reopened in 2016 at the 10th Chamber of the Council of State, was concluded on July 2, 2020, and this time the Council of State made a historical decision (nr. 2020/2595) and annulled the decision of the Council of Ministers dated November 24, 1934, thus making it possible to turn Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque again.
Immediately after this, with the President’s Decision dated 10 July 2020, it was decided that Hagia Sophia was transferred to the Presidency of Religious Affairs and opened for worship. Thus, after the Hagia Sophia was converted into a museum, it was reopened for worship with the Friday prayer on July 24, 2020, and under the name Hagia Sophia-i Kebir Mosque-i Şerifi.
You can make a reservation from us for daily car rental with driver and daily car rental for your daily visit to Hagia Sophia.