Hagia Sophia is among the most popular historical artifacts in Istanbul. Hagia Sophia, which has served as a museum for many years, was converted into a mosque again in 2020. Thus, Hagia Sophia entrance fee and opening hours have also changed.
Hagia Sophia is located in Sultanahmet, Istanbul’s most touristic district. This 1500-year-old historical monument is visited by an average of 3 million people annually. In this article, you can find the details you need to know when visiting Hagia Sophia.
Useful Information About Hagia Sophia
You can find useful information about Hagia Sophia in the following lines. As a private tour guide in Istanbul, I tried to bring together the things that visitors are most curious about.
1. When Was Hagia Sophia Built?
Hagia Sophia was built as a church in 537. It was the most important church of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. It was built for Justinian, the most famous emperor of Byzantium, by two architects named Anthemius and Isidore.
2. Why Is Hagia Sophia So Important?
Hagia Sophia was a revolutionary building considering the early church architecture. Roman churches were modeled after the Basilica, an ancient Roman structure. There would be no flashy domes in these structures.
Hagia Sophia was the first Roman church to have a giant round dome. It was only during the Renaissance that domes of this size were built in Europe. Hagia Sophia had achieved this 1000 years ahead. Therefore, Hagia Sophia is very important in world architectural history.
3. When Did Hagia Sophia Become a Mosque?
Hagia Sophia became a mosque in 1453 when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople. Hagia Sophia, which served as a mosque until the 1900s, remained a museum for about 90 years during the republic period.
Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque again with a decision taken in 2020. For this reason, there is no longer a need to buy tickets at the entrance. Anyone can worship in it or visit it to explore the building.
4. How Much is Hagia Sophia Entrance Fee?
The entrance fee to Hagia Sophia was 100 Turkish Liras before it was converted into a mosque. However, you no longer have to pay at the entrance. Hagia Sophia visit is free like other mosques in Istanbul.
After visiting Hagia Sophia, you can visit the adjacent Sultan Tombs free of charge. The interior decoration of these mausoleums carries works from 16th century Ottoman architecture. Especially the ceilings decorated with Iznik tiles and wooden works inlaid with mother-of-pearl are worth seeing.
5. What Day is Hagia Sophia Closed?
When Hagia Sophia was a museum, it was closed on Mondays. This information still exists in un-updated guidebooks, but is no longer valid. Hagia Sophia is open every day of the week.
6. Hagia Sophia Opening Hours 2023
Hagia Sophia opening hours are between 10:00 in the morning and 22:00 in the late evening as of 2023. However, since it is a mosque, it is partially closed to touristic visits during prayer hours.
As of January 2023, Hagia Sophia does not completely close during prayer hours. In the middle of the mosque, there are barriers separating the prayer section, and if you visit Hagia Sophia during prayer hours, you cannot cross these barriers.
Istanbul mosques, including the Blue Mosque, do not accept touristic visits to the indoor section during prayer hours. However, we see that this rule is not applied with a strict discipline in Hagia Sophia.
In this case, you can visit Hagia Sophia during the day (within the specified time frame for the touristic visit). However, if you go during worship hours, your experience will be limited as you cannot go to the center of the main space.
During your visit to Hagia Sophia, I recommend you to join a guided group tour so that you can get inside more easily and learn the history of Hagia Sophia from a professional. You can reserve your place in the guided tour from this link.
You can see long queues at the entrance of Hagia Sophia. This is because visitors are admitted in groups. Even if you are at the end of a queue that seems very long, you can enter in a short time when the entrance of the mosque opens to the next group.
How Can I Know the Prayer Times of Mosques in Istanbul?
You can follow the opening and closing times of mosques (including Hagia Sophia) in Istanbul from the table on this link. Mosques are usually closed for prayer 1 hour before the prayer and opened 30 minutes after the prayer.
For example, if we assume that the noon prayer is at 13:00, the mosque will close at 12:00 and open at 13:30. The best time to visit Hagia Sophia is 3 hours after it opens at 09:00 in the morning.
All mosques in Istanbul can be visited uninterruptedly from 09:00 in the morning until 11:30. If you make your plan accordingly, the visiting hours, which constantly change according to the hours of worship, will not affect you.
7. How to Get to There?
In order to get to the Hagia Sophia from Taksim Square, you can first take the Funicular F1 to Kabatas. Funicular F1 is inside the metro station in Taksim Square.
You can take Tram T1 from Kabatas Tram Station to Sultanahmet. This journey will take approximately 15 minutes. During the tram ride, you will see touristic places such as Galata Bridge and Spice Bazaar.
In order to get to the Hagia Sophia from Sultanahmet, it is enough to find well-known spots such as Sultanahmet Square or Sultanahmet Tram Stop. With its distinctive architecture, Hagia Sophia will be in your view from these points.
8. Are the Mosaics in Hagia Sophia open?
Yes, the mosaics in Hagia Sophia are open. Hagia Sophia mosaics are covered only during prayer times and are opened for visitors to see during the rest of the time.
The mosaics inside Hagia Sophia are dated between the 9th century and the 13th century. It reflects the religious art of the Byzantine Empire. You can also review this post for more information on these mosaics. (You can find the history and photos of each mosaic in detail in this article)
The Latest Situation of Hagia Sophia Mosaics
As of January 2023, the mosaics on the lower floor can be seen. As an exception, “the Virgin and the Child mosaic” in the main space is covered with a curtain. (The blue mosaic at the very back in the above image.)
The mosaic above the Emperor’s Gate on the ground floor (Mosaic of Emperor Leo VI in the foreground in the above image) and the Mosaic of the Great Emperors (Constantine and Justinian) on the exit gate can be seen.
On the other hand, the upstairs gallery is closed for renovations. In this case, the Christ Pantocrator (Deesis), the Komnenos Family Mosaic and finally the Empress Zoe Mosaic cannot be seen.
9. How to Take a Guided Tour?
You can make a reservation from this link to take a guided tour of Hagia Sophia. Tours are organized under the guarantee of GetYourGuide, an international travel platform.
Participants of this tour meet with their guides at the entrance of Hagia Sophia and enter quickly. If you tour with a guide, you will discover many things that you could not learn by yourself.
10. Where to Stay in Sultanahmet
Sultanahmet district, where Hagia Sophia is located, is full of beautiful boutique hotels. There are many historical buildings that have been converted into hotels with the restoration of Ottoman mansions.
In order to decide where to stay in Sultanahmet, you can check out the best hotels in Sultanahmet post. Sultanahmet is also the place where traditional Turkish cuisine is best represented in Istanbul. The best restaurants in Sultanahmet post can help you find the best cafes and restaurants in the area.
Written by Serhat Engul
What a pity that Hagia Sophia has ceased to be a place where anyone can enter and feel the beauty that God inspired to the architects as it has been for the last century, to become a place belonging to muslims while the rest of people will be the defeated ones in a battle that happened five centuries ago.
Hello Martu, you may think that Hagia Sophia should have remained as a museum. Many citizens in Turkey have the same opinion. But it seems that you misunderstood something: Anyone can visit Hagia Sophia. It will be closed only during prayer hours. Except for the prayer times, everyone can visit and it’s free! No major changes were made in terms of architecture. In other words, architects can still visit Hagia Sophia and be inspired.
This is a real shame. How can people plan a visit around all these restrictions? An hour before and a half hour after the pray times very day? And forget Fridays! I have also read that the mosaics are still covered with sheets. I know this is not your fault. It makes Turkey look ridiculous, and it is taking away from the world’s ability to see a beautiful and historic structure.
I would have preferred Hagia Sophia to remain as a museum. However, Hagia Sophia has become a mosque now and I am giving information about how to visit under current conditions. The time interval that Hagia Sophia can be visited is the same as the Blue Mosque. Since Blue Mosque is the most visited historical monument by tourists, Hagia Sophia can also be visited.
Hello Serhat
You mentioned “Hagia Sophia is open every day of the week.” For some reason google says it is closed on Satruday and Sunday. Just double checking since you posted this in May, was there any change of hours of Hagia Sophia? During the visiting hours which area of the mosque can you visit.
I remember when I was there in 2014 I was in first floor and also went to the upper floors. Are those still accessible during the visiting hours now?
Thanks
Hello Hasib,
It is not possible for Hagia Sophia to be closed on weekends. Because it accepts the most visitors on Saturday and Sunday. I don’t know on what basis they shared this information.
Last time I went, only the ground floor was accessible. After it became a mosque, the outer and inner narthexes lost their importance. Only the main section can be visited. The upper floors were closed for renovations.
I haven’t been able to go to Hagia Sophia for a while as I have suspended my tours due to Covid. I can share exact information when I start again in August.
Hello 🙂 Thank you for the wonderfull information page! Hopefully me and my friend can visit Istanbul soon and do some tours. Did you by any chanche discovered when the former museum parts of Hagia Sophia will open again? (1st and 2nd floor, and the Baptismal Font room). It would be so wonderfull to see that as well.
Hi Bastian, unfortunately, the sections that were closed after the Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque have not been opened yet. As far as I know, the baptistery is still closed. Also, the second floor galleries cannot be visited. Therefore, a significant part of the Byzantine mosaics cannot be seen for the time being.
Hello, well thank you for the reply. 🙂 Could you maybe post an update about that when that changes? As an amateur archaeologist it was one of the reasons to visit Istanbul, together with Gul Cami and Chora Church and the Blue Mosque. Greetings from Amsterdam, Bastian.
Hello again Bastian. Of course, if anything changes, I will try to update the article immediately.
Hello, I’m going to have a layover in Istanbul for 9 hours from 6 pm can I visit Hagia Sophia/Blue Mosque after 6 pm?
Thank you in advance
The museums in Istanbul entered the winter period as of October 1 and close at 18:30. However, since the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia are mosques, they do not have the exact times as the museums. As far as I know, Hagia Sophia cannot be visited after 6 pm. In addition, as the restoration work in the Blue Mosque is gaining momentum, it is sometimes completely closed these days.
Hello! We are going to visit istanbul 24th of October and we are wondering what is the situation with lines and covid restrictions? Does it worth it to book a guided tour just to skip the line lets say on a Monday morning?
Hello, you need to visit Hagia Sophia with a mask. As far as I know, there is no other precaution other than this. I don’t think there will be a queue at the entrance on Monday.
Hi Serhat, Great site very informative. Just a point on Aya Sophia, it certainly wasn’t the first Roman domed building. The Pantheon in Rome has a massive dome built 400 years earlier, 126AD. It is still the biggest concrete dome of its type in the world (yes, the Romans perfected concrete 200BC). Keep up the good work Serhat. Regards to my favourite city in the World.
Dear Milton Hill,
Thank you for your feedback on the blog and your contribution to the architectural details.
However, if you read the sentence one more time, you can see that I emphasized that Hagia Sophia was the first church with a giant dome. In addition, Hagia Sophia had a giant dome that the basilicas, the early churches, never had. In this sense, it was a revolutionary structure.
The Pantheon was neither essentially a church nor had anything to do with the plan of the basilica. The Pantheon, a pagan temple, has a round dome perfectly supported by round walls. If the Eastern Romans wanted to repeat this technique, they could easily do it.
However, they wanted to preserve the rectangular basilica plan that had been traditional since the reign of Emperor Constantine, but to build a giant dome on top of it.
For this purpose, they used pendentives that would bring the round dome together with an angular structure. This was a revolution in church architecture.
The original dome of Hagia Sophia was 49 meters, and when it was destroyed in the earthquake in 558, it was built for the second time as 56 meters.
The Pantheon, on the other hand, has a dome 43 meters above the ground. It is definitely not a rival to Hagia Sophia with its dimensions. However, even if it was a rival, it would not contradict my sentence in the article. Because our subject is the historical development of basilica planned churches.
For more detailed information on this subject, I would also recommend the article titled The Architecture of Hagia Sophia that I published on this site.
Best regards,
Serhat
Serhat, have you started doing half day tour of Hagia Sofia, etc, in Istanbul? How much fees do you charge?
Hi Gan, yes, I started doing half-day tours again. You can find the details in this article.
Hi Serhat,
We are planning to visit Hagia Sophia on 5th July (Tuesday) during a layover flight from Rome to Male. We are scheduled to reach at 3:05, but by the time we get out of airport with immigration formalities, it appears too tight as Tripadvisor and many other sites are saying that the closing hour is 5PM.
Some sites say it is open 24 hours. You have said earlier in this blog that as it is a mosque now, it maybe open till 6:30PM. Do you think we can visit given a tight schedule? Also, do you still do guided tours? Our connecting flight is at 6:15 AM next day (July 6th) so we have no time constraints in the evening.
I did visit the Grand Mosque at Abu Dhabi in 2019 and it was open upto 9PM. It would have been nice if Hagia Sophia was also open till late. What is the current situation. Also, how are current Covid related restrictions. We are vaccinated 3 doses and live in Canada. Thanks in advance for your help.
Hello Prak, frankly, things about the touristic visit to Hagia Sophia are not completely clear at the moment. Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque at the start of the pandemic period in 2020. Since this process has taken place a little fast, the new order is sitting slowly at the moment.
For example, the upper floor galleries of Hagia Sophia are still closed and visitors cannot see the mosaics there. Of the lower floor mosaics, only the Virgin and the Child mosaic in the main room was covered with a curtain and the others were left open.
Touristic visiting hours continue until 18:30 at mosques in Istanbul (eg the Blue Mosque). However, while the Blue Mosque is strictly closed during prayer hours, this rule is not applied with the same discipline in Hagia Sophia.
As far as I’ve seen recently, there is a barrier in the middle of Hagia Sophia that defines the place of worship. Although those who come for touristic visits can enter Hagia Sophia during worship, they cannot cross this barrier.
This is good in a way because at least you can see Hagia Sophia partially if you come to visit it during prayer time. On the other hand, if you had gone to the Blue Mosque during prayer, you could only see the courtyard and you would not be able to go to the indoor part.
When locals go to Hagia Sophia for worship, they can enter late. Because the last adhan of the day is already around 21:30 and it is possible to pray inside. However, as I mentioned before, touristic visiting hours are limited to 09:00 in the morning and 18:30 in the evening in Istanbul mosques.
I didn’t go to Hagia Sophia that late. Next time I’ll talk to the staff there about this. If there is a different situation than what I described and if it can be visited later than 18:30, I will notify you from your personal e-mail address (registered in the system).
Thanks so much Serhat, for the prompt and detailed reply. It really helps if the place is open till 18:30 hrs at least. It would allow to get at least hopefully a glimpse. It is also very encouraging to know that locals can enter till 21:30, that may mean a chance to hangout a bit later if entered the place by 18:30. Thanks for your advise, and really appreciate your offer to keep us updated if there is any updates.
Best regards,
-Prak
You’re welcome, Prak. I hope you have a good time in Istanbul. Have a nice trip!
Hi Serhat,
Do you know if Hagia Sofia will be open on 1st or 2nd May ? (Sunday/Monday). We are trying to work out what attractions are open around Eid Al Fitr! (If you also know about Topkapi Palace please do let me know too!)
Thanks,
Emma
Hello Emma, visiting hours of mosques and museums in Istanbul may be limited on public holidays and religious days. However, I can’t say anything because the visiting hours change from year to year.
Normally, the Istanbul Chamber of Guides informs us of the temporary visiting hours during the holidays by email. However, I haven’t received any news about this yet.
I don’t think there will be any restrictions on visiting mosques such as Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque on 1 May. On the other hand, on May 2, it is the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
Last time, Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque were closed for half a day until the early afternoon. As a museum, Topkapı Palace may be completely closed on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
As a result, I think you can definitely find the opportunity to visit these places in one of the two days. Because these structures are not closed for more than one day during religious holidays.
However, the Grand Bazaar is an exception. It is completely closed during religious holidays.
Hello Serhat. Can you please give me step by step instructions to go from our hotel at the Pullman Istanbul Hotel, Yenibosna Merkez which is very near Attaturk Airport to Sultanahmet or Hagia Sophia. I would like to take public transport but I would not mind taking taxi to the nearest public transport terminal from our hotel.
Can I take taxi from Hotel to Atakoy Metro and take the metro to Sultanahmet ?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hello Jose, under this title, I am trying to give inside information to make it easier for people to visit Hagia Sophia. However, this is more about the opening hours and restoration status of Hagia Sophia.
Unfortunately, making a “step-by-step address description” does not fit into my voluntarily task. If I answer how to get to Hagia Sophia from every hotel in Istanbul, I can’t mind my own business.
Hagia Sophia is the most famous historical monument in Istanbul and I don’t think you will have any problems getting there by public transportation. If you ask the hotel concierge, they will give you the necessary address directions.
Please don’t take it personally, the reason I’m writing such an answer is to block such individual questions. I wish you a nice trip.
Hi Serhat,
What a wonderful blog. We are a couple visiting Istanbul for the first time in 2 days with our 6 month old.
We will be there on Saturday, I don’t think we’ll manage much on this day as we will most likely get to our hotel in Sirkeci in the afternoon.
Is it possible to do the Grand bazaar at around 5pm on a Saturday? I believe it is closed on Sunday and then the Eid celebrations begin so we would like to check it out before
Can we do Aya Sophia and The Blue mosque early morning on Sunday 1st May?
2nd of May- are the ferries operating on this day..we were thinking of taking a ferry on the Bosphorous seeing that a lot of places may shut.
Thanks in advance!!
Hello Neh, Grand Bazaar is open until 7:00 pm on Saturdays. However, from 6:30 onwards, the lights start to go out and the shops begin to close.
I don’t think there will be a change in the visiting hours of Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque on May 1. There was no news about this.
Topkapi Palace will be closed on May 2 (the first day of Ramadan Feast). I wrote it as a note for other people reading this page as well. Bosphorus cruises operate on that day.
Hello Serhat. Thank you so much for the updated information. You were one of the few pages on my google search that actually gave this info! Just to make sure, are any of the Byzantine mosaics and pagan carvings covered? The beauty of Hagia Sophia has always been the mix of beliefs that it portrays… I hope we can still see that.
Hi Twiggy, thanks for your feedback on the blog. In fact, the answers to the questions about mosaics are already in the article. The engraving of the Viking soldier is on the second floor and cannot be seen as access to the galleries is currently closed.
Are there any restrictions to visits to Hagia Sophia and others mosques during the month of Ramadan.? Thank you very much.
Hi Eileen, There are no restrictions for mosques during Ramadan. However, mosques in Sultanahmet can be much more crowded than usual during Ramadan (especially in the evening).
Thanks for your helpful guide. Do you know if the upper gallery is still closed (as of October 2022)?
Hi Anush, yes, the upper galleries of Hagia Sophia are still closed. I don’t think they will be opened anytime soon.
Thanks for your reply. I enjoyed my visit although it was bit disappointing not to be able to see the mosaics in the upper galleries. I found your blogpost very useful.
Hello Anush, yes, it is not possible for now to see the works of art inside Hagia Sophia in detail as in the museum period. Maybe improvements will be made in the future.
Hello, thank you for putting together such an informative page! Is there any etiquette that visitors must observe? I ask because I am an Orthodox Christan. While touring the Hagia Sofia I might cross myself spontaneously as it is a normal for me to do on a regular basis. Would I be asked to leave if I did so? Thank you in advanced
Hi Adrian, I don’t think there will be a problem with your cross. Frankly, a lot has changed about the procedure for visiting Hagia Sophia since it turned into a mosque, and I haven’t been able to follow the details much in the last few weeks.
However, the staff are generally very tolerant of visitors. Since Hagia Sophia used to be a church, I think they will perceive your crossing as an act of showing respect to the building.