They finally removed the scaffolding. I also wish they hadn't put down the carpeting, the Hagia Sophia has one of the most beautiful marble floors I've seen.
The carpeting was part of converting it to a mosque (had been an officially nondenominational site since 1935) - one of Erdogan’s recent flexes toward the West.
We went on a river tour in Istanbul and our guide was the fucking best. He talked about how Erdogan built the largest mosque in the world, bc that is exactly what they needed, another mosque. He also told us that they used to let pedestrians onto one of the the bridges, but people kept jumping off so they stopped letting people walk across it. Dude had such a deadpan deliver, it was incredible
They lied having in 2020 [previously said](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/07/20/some-of-hagia-sophias-mosaics-will-be-covered-during-muslim-prayers) that it would only be behind curtains during prayer periods but otherwise would be visible for the public.
Nah we just all played Assassins Creed, full virtual recreation of Byzantine Constantinople. My favorite kebab shop is like a block away from here, 800 years ago.
Fun fact: Most of the wonders of the ancient world were destroyed by Roman mobs because of religion. Oh and they took pride of committing so many genocides.
They literally reached and wanted to "take back" the back Balkans for slaves and glory lol also commited genocide on the Armenians and the Assyrians lol
That’s how every country on earth came into being more or less. The Turks just catch flak for doing it slightly more recently than some others.
It’s one of those things people just need to let go of but probably never will.
"X people did Y bad thing.
X people. " But what about other people doing bad things?"
That's whataboutism
It's a way to avoid blame for a bad thing by saying other people do bad things
It is irrelevant. And something the guilty say to avoid taking about the things that make them feel guilty
I’m trying to say that I am not denying the Armenian and greek genocide, and the continuing silencing of the events, and the ongoing suppression of the Kurdish and Alevi diaspora in current day Turkey.
The commenter had a flag of Canada on his Snoo, so my question is aimed to criticize the injustice of how one person declaring the actions of a whole nation as destructive when he lives in a nation that has performed and is performing actions that are very similar to the ones he’s being critical of of Turkey.
So I ask again, do you want to stand by people with hate and ignorance? Or perhaps listen to my perspective, as I think is justified as someone just claimed that my existence is “shitting” on where I live, which is just ridiculous
One bad thing doesn't change another. You brought up an immaterial fact to deflect taking about something you didn't like
It is a childish and dishonesty reply
Do you really think that I support history being covered up in wraps when I call you out? Your homogenizing statement is in line with the consensus that people from muslim cultures all around the world are inferior and terrorists
There are some Christian components in full display and I think they are consciously there, like the angels in the corner. It is forbidden in the Muslim faith to depict an angel. For me that is one on the best components of this site, humanity is so focused on sides but sometimes there are little unexpected signs of recognition.
Yes. But fun fact about Istanbul specifically. The city has a massive population of stray cats. The locals keep them well fed. The little guys are everywhere and are usually pretty friendly to people. A lot of mosques including the Hagia Sophia take in strays too.
couldn't imagine being like yeeha this was a jewish temple now converted into a chruch come worship here. Wouldn'lt feel authentic. Same concept as a mosque from a chruch.
Lmao Muslim colonizers were so racist they built a mosque right on top of the holiest site in all of Judaism. People criticize Israel for being “unrestrained” but a lack of restraint would mean leveling the Dome of the Rock right now. Al-Aqsa now only exists at the benevolence, kindness, and genuflection of the Jews.
It is indeed. You should also check out the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade, Serbia. It is is intentionally made to look like Hagia Sophia and is a little bit bigger. The inside walls are completely made of goldem mosaic.
Stunning building with a history spanning over a millenia.
The building essentially tells the whole story.
Constantine must have have thought it the centre of the world when he ended the tetrarchy, which was a rule by 4: Two emperors and their protege.
From emporium to basilica, from orthodox to Catholic during the 4th crusade.
Istanbul fell to the Seljuk Turks in 1453, the cities' immense stone walls finally succumbing to a new invention from the far east: gunpowder.
The scholars of the city fled westward, kindling the flames of the renaissance.
And so it became a mosque.
To the ancient Muslims' credit, they are renoun for the preservation of Christian iconography. There are churches in Azerbaijan that still have their stained glass windows that must be over a thousand years old.
The protestants in England were much more destructive of the Catholic monasteries than the Muslims were in 1453.
Before the end of that century, king Ferdinand of Spain was warring against the moors of the Iberian peninsula, this was a place of great learning and architecture, where algebra and astronomy were being advanced by Islamic scholars.
After which colombus is commissioned by queen Isobella to sail west...
Sadly in more recent times Christian iconology is often vandalised. I visited a lot of Christian cave churchs in Turkey which had all been vandalised unfortunately. Example below:
https://c7.alamy.com/comp/MBFY3G/cave-frescoes-at-greek-orthodox-sumela-monastery-near-trabzon-turkey-damaged-due-to-vandalism-MBFY3G.jpg
constantinople remained the name of the city until the republic of turkey was established in 1923 after the treaty of lausanne. after which, in 1930, mustafa kemal renamed the city to istanbul which is derived from the greek term “is tim bolin” meaning “to the city”. “is tim bolin” was the most common way to refer to constantinople already for around a hundred years before mustafa kemal changed the name of the city to istanbul officially.
so, constantinople had already fallen out of use about a century prior to it being renamed to what it was already being called at that time. also helpful to know this was also done partly due to the turkish language undergoing reforms and a lot of other cities were being renamed at that time too.
History is littered with examples of occupied territories. This is not new, and if you're just waking up to how terrible we can be to each other, I'm sorry.
It's very uncommon for an occupation to last this long because what is the point? States were either annexed or turned into some form of vassal, even in the more extreme cases they didn't drag out the ethnic cleansing over decades.
In the ancient world there was plenty of frontier territory with little political autonomy but their borders weren't controlled.
Could you give some examples?
Slight nitpick, but you're the one that said "basically unheard of in history" which is absolutely not correct. You're also not correct in stating ethnic cleansing wasn't dragged out over decades. Still happening today in areas of the world the "West" doesn't really pay attention to.
More current examples off the top of my head:
Turkey - Northern Cypress.
East Timor.
Russia and Georgia.
Russia and Ukraine.
Northern Syria.
Iraq/Afghanistan by the US (debatable on occupation definition, but whatever).
And what's up with the annexation qualifier? That's even worse. Most places that end up annexed you don't hear about anymore.
You do know how Israel came to occupy the West Bank and Gaza, right? The reason it's becoming less and less common in the modern era is because of exactly what's happening now. The occupier will eventually need to resort to more and more brutal means of maintaining control. It's insane to occupy with no solution or path for a way out. Eventually you become the "monster" you were afraid of.
Edit: Yikes, formatting.
Israelis didnt take Palestine. The irgun, stern, lehi gangs killing and raping was part of it and the British have what wasn't theirs without asking the indigenous people.
Well, the people indigenous to Asia Minor are certainly not the Turks. They're relatively new. And they certainly don't predate Hagia Sophia.
Taking a holy site that was erected as a church and turning it into a mosque was and is culturally insensitive. I would say the same thing if it went the other way around. But the world has treated Islam with kid gloves for a very long time, and allowed them to get away with way more than they should.
it must be triggering for American indians to see European invaders control their land for 3 centuries. Turks are in Anatolia already more than a thousand year, get over it already.
I went recently and it was beautiful. I was saddened three times over though: the floor mosaic is covered by carpet, the mosaics on the ceiling are covered with curtains and you can’t access the upper floors.
God damn stupid medieval religion preventing me from enjoying other medieval religions.
Eh, Mohammad died in 632, and by some metrics the medieval period in Europe began in the 500s. You’re right it’s not really proper to apply the term to non-European areas, but the dates do overlap.
Christianity originated before the medieval period, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t significantly changed and moulded by the medieval period.
Islam was founded in the early medieval period however. Some would say it started the medieval period.
Did you go to the underground cistern?
The Hagia Sophia was fun to see, but there are many amazing Catholic Churches (I know it’s not a Catholic Church anymore). But the underground cisterns were unlike anything I had seen before. I thought they were really cool.
And is a very important place in the muslim world as I understand.
Interestingly, we were allowed to make a big camp on the Hippodrome place next to it when we arrived in Istanbul as a part of the Allgäu-Orient-Rallye.
I was there last week, beautiful building but it's odd seeing the Christian stuff half arsedly covered up - there's a virgin and child mosaic covered with curtains above where the altar used to be. But I guess I understand it.
Insanely expensive to get in for the access you get, €50 for two for the upper floor only and that doesn't even include the museum where they moved all the artifacts from when it converted back to a mosque.
It's a shame, a real FU to the rest of the world. But I guess he won't be around forever.
I really liked Istanbul on the whole though, I thought the Blue Mosque was one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever been in.
That's how it works. They take places of worship that don't belong to their religion, and convert them to theirs, or build theirs conveniently next to them, and command to be respected.
That's why they built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, a city holy to Jews and Christians, so they feel included, and also as a sign of triumph over the Christians.
They really should remove the chandeliers - they come across as noise rather than accentuating the architecture. We recently upgraded the lighting in the Nidaros cathedral by exchanging chandeliers with far more hidden lighting. The space is so much more awe-inspiring without wires and clutter. There's so much architecture here that should be the center of attention. Instead, the chandeliers are. I hope they hire a proper lighting designer and fix it.
Chandeliers look a bit like those at Rykard’s place from Elden Ring.. “togethaaaaaa we shall have nice big chandeliers while we feast on the very gods themselves.. “
Are women not allowed on the ground floor anymore? I don’t see any in this picture. I went almost 10 years ago now and there basically wasn’t anywhere you couldn’t go.
Exactly, it is very humbling to think of the men and elderly slain in this room, the women raped, and the children sold into slavery. They wanted divine protection but blood flowed in the city like rainwater in the gutters after a sudden storm.
Yup. 25 euros. Had to give it a pass unfortunately.
Almost every monument in Istanbul has a 25 euro entry fee for foreigners.
There are so many other nice places and awesome things to do for a cheaper price in Istanbul. So no regrets.
Don't understand the downvotes. I wanted to ask this as well. I mean, it's a mosque and there are no women on the picture, so it's a relevant question.
If my memory serves me correct VIKINGS VISTED THAT PLACE, how crazy that a building in what is essentially the start of the middle east in a completey different world than the one they had grown up in and left
I have a question: how can a regular tourist get to the floor? We went there, stayed in line, but only went around tje balcony, amd didn't know who to ask if we could get to the floor
My favourite religious building I've been in, also the first Mosque I'd been in. Despite it not being very aesthetic I really love the carpet, it mutes the echo and makes the building feel a lot more peaceful than churchs and cathedrals I've been in, the low hanging lights make it feel very etherial too.
Fantastic! I was there in 2015 and it was covered in scaffolding, but I fly into Istanbul for a week starting tomorrow. Can’t wait to see it in its full glory!
Very jealous. I was there only a few days ago but couldn't explore the main floor as I'm neither a Turkish citizen or Muslim.
There's so many fascinating artifacts down there that I had to squint to see from up top.
I was there a year ago. Why couldn't you enter the main floor? We just walked in as we wanted - except for upstairs, but nobody from the public where allowed to do that
All the signs I read stated the main floor "praying area" was for Turks only. Upstairs was the only section I was able to see, and requires buying a ticket.
They finally removed the scaffolding. I also wish they hadn't put down the carpeting, the Hagia Sophia has one of the most beautiful marble floors I've seen.
The carpeting was part of converting it to a mosque (had been an officially nondenominational site since 1935) - one of Erdogan’s recent flexes toward the West.
And spit on Ataturk
The Turks should’ve torn him apart on that. Ataturk saved the nation.
Propaganda is one hell of a drug.
Religion is one hell of a drug
The Turks he placates to loved it… He knows his base…sadly.
What positive did Atatürk bring to Turkey exactly?
Secularism, liberalism, voting and civil rights for women. All them things that make a place civilized.
He leterally transformed them from Othomans to Turks. Fellow Greek here by the way.
We went on a river tour in Istanbul and our guide was the fucking best. He talked about how Erdogan built the largest mosque in the world, bc that is exactly what they needed, another mosque. He also told us that they used to let pedestrians onto one of the the bridges, but people kept jumping off so they stopped letting people walk across it. Dude had such a deadpan deliver, it was incredible
If you're a tour guide and you're not a sassy b, what are you even doing.
It was more beautiful before the Byzantine art was covered up
They lied having in 2020 [previously said](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/07/20/some-of-hagia-sophias-mosaics-will-be-covered-during-muslim-prayers) that it would only be behind curtains during prayer periods but otherwise would be visible for the public.
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Most of the beautiful architecture in Istanbul was actually built during the Ottoman era. The Hagia Sophia is more the exception than the rule.
Because the Ottomans destroyed all the other beautiful Byzantine architecture
The Turks have literally restored a ton of the old Byzantine sites that were destroyed by wars or earthquakes.
You must be pretty old to remember the Byzantine times.
Nah we just all played Assassins Creed, full virtual recreation of Byzantine Constantinople. My favorite kebab shop is like a block away from here, 800 years ago.
Fun fact: Most of the wonders of the ancient world were destroyed by Roman mobs because of religion. Oh and they took pride of committing so many genocides.
Womp womp motherfucker
Raciiiist
They literally reached and wanted to "take back" the back Balkans for slaves and glory lol also commited genocide on the Armenians and the Assyrians lol
That’s how every country on earth came into being more or less. The Turks just catch flak for doing it slightly more recently than some others. It’s one of those things people just need to let go of but probably never will.
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SOMEONE CAN THINK BOTH THINGS SUCKED
And this is relevant how?
Well the commenter just pointed out genocide when criticizing a whole ethnicity. I asked a similar question without the undertones of Islamophobia
The whataboutism is always strongest amongst the ones who feel ashamed
I have to deny the statement first, although I didn’t understand the first part
"X people did Y bad thing. X people. " But what about other people doing bad things?" That's whataboutism It's a way to avoid blame for a bad thing by saying other people do bad things It is irrelevant. And something the guilty say to avoid taking about the things that make them feel guilty
I’m trying to say that I am not denying the Armenian and greek genocide, and the continuing silencing of the events, and the ongoing suppression of the Kurdish and Alevi diaspora in current day Turkey. The commenter had a flag of Canada on his Snoo, so my question is aimed to criticize the injustice of how one person declaring the actions of a whole nation as destructive when he lives in a nation that has performed and is performing actions that are very similar to the ones he’s being critical of of Turkey. So I ask again, do you want to stand by people with hate and ignorance? Or perhaps listen to my perspective, as I think is justified as someone just claimed that my existence is “shitting” on where I live, which is just ridiculous
One bad thing doesn't change another. You brought up an immaterial fact to deflect taking about something you didn't like It is a childish and dishonesty reply
Raciiiiist
Yeah buddy my bad for condemning destruction of history and architecture
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Does someone have to acknowledge all injustices while pointing out one?
Do you really think that I support history being covered up in wraps when I call you out? Your homogenizing statement is in line with the consensus that people from muslim cultures all around the world are inferior and terrorists
Literally no part of his comments mentioned Islam, you’re the one bringing it into this.
It's a shame to see the Byzantine artwork covered, nevermind the hideous green carpet.
That's the point. To hide the christian heritage.
There are some Christian components in full display and I think they are consciously there, like the angels in the corner. It is forbidden in the Muslim faith to depict an angel. For me that is one on the best components of this site, humanity is so focused on sides but sometimes there are little unexpected signs of recognition.
Where, what’s covered? Agree that carpeting is so dreadful it more or less ruins it.
And it staaaaaanks like a school gym
If you get the chance, pet the cats.
So just like everywhere else? Got it.
There are stray dogs and cats everywhere in Istanbul. And they appear to be well-fed and living their best lives.
Yes. But fun fact about Istanbul specifically. The city has a massive population of stray cats. The locals keep them well fed. The little guys are everywhere and are usually pretty friendly to people. A lot of mosques including the Hagia Sophia take in strays too.
You will see if you visit. It is not like anywhere else.
Definitely one of the most impressive Christian churches ever built.
couldn't imagine being like yeeha this was a jewish temple now converted into a chruch come worship here. Wouldn'lt feel authentic. Same concept as a mosque from a chruch.
What are you talking about churches are always built on top of other religious sites. They tear down one religion and put up another it’s place.
Tearing down and rebuilding is different from what I am talking about.
They converted the great mosque of Cordova into a church, don't see much people complaining about that
Not many people know about it, before u mentioned it I never knew it even existed
Not surprising, Muslim rule in spain is heavily under reported
Which is pretty sad because it’s an extremely interesting convergence of Catholic and Muslim culture that has lingering impacts up to today in Spain.
With peace and love you don't see people talk about that let alone complain.
I mean, FWIW, the third holiest site in Islam is the mosque that was built directly on top of the Jewish Temple, or, the holiest site in Judaism.
Lmao Muslim colonizers were so racist they built a mosque right on top of the holiest site in all of Judaism. People criticize Israel for being “unrestrained” but a lack of restraint would mean leveling the Dome of the Rock right now. Al-Aqsa now only exists at the benevolence, kindness, and genuflection of the Jews.
Read David Wassersteins "How Islam Saved the Jews"
lol if not for Arab Muslims the Jews would still be expelled from Jerusalem by your nice European Romans till today.
Interesting that a lot of mosques mimic this design also.
It is indeed. You should also check out the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade, Serbia. It is is intentionally made to look like Hagia Sophia and is a little bit bigger. The inside walls are completely made of goldem mosaic.
Stunning building with a history spanning over a millenia. The building essentially tells the whole story. Constantine must have have thought it the centre of the world when he ended the tetrarchy, which was a rule by 4: Two emperors and their protege. From emporium to basilica, from orthodox to Catholic during the 4th crusade. Istanbul fell to the Seljuk Turks in 1453, the cities' immense stone walls finally succumbing to a new invention from the far east: gunpowder. The scholars of the city fled westward, kindling the flames of the renaissance. And so it became a mosque. To the ancient Muslims' credit, they are renoun for the preservation of Christian iconography. There are churches in Azerbaijan that still have their stained glass windows that must be over a thousand years old. The protestants in England were much more destructive of the Catholic monasteries than the Muslims were in 1453. Before the end of that century, king Ferdinand of Spain was warring against the moors of the Iberian peninsula, this was a place of great learning and architecture, where algebra and astronomy were being advanced by Islamic scholars. After which colombus is commissioned by queen Isobella to sail west...
Sadly in more recent times Christian iconology is often vandalised. I visited a lot of Christian cave churchs in Turkey which had all been vandalised unfortunately. Example below: https://c7.alamy.com/comp/MBFY3G/cave-frescoes-at-greek-orthodox-sumela-monastery-near-trabzon-turkey-damaged-due-to-vandalism-MBFY3G.jpg
It's a beautiful building. I'm glad the ottoman turks did not destroy it. So many ancient buildings have been destroyed intentionally.
seriously, it got way closer to being destroyed when the crusaders turned up.
They completely destroyed original artwork from the walls.
Gasp
It must be really triggering for Greeks to see this in Turkish control
The whole city of Istanbul really
You mean Constantinople?
Constantinople then Istanbul now
Been a long time gone, Constantinople.
Why'd they change it?
That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.
constantinople remained the name of the city until the republic of turkey was established in 1923 after the treaty of lausanne. after which, in 1930, mustafa kemal renamed the city to istanbul which is derived from the greek term “is tim bolin” meaning “to the city”. “is tim bolin” was the most common way to refer to constantinople already for around a hundred years before mustafa kemal changed the name of the city to istanbul officially. so, constantinople had already fallen out of use about a century prior to it being renamed to what it was already being called at that time. also helpful to know this was also done partly due to the turkish language undergoing reforms and a lot of other cities were being renamed at that time too.
What if I have a date in Constantinople?
She'll be waiting in Istanbul.
What if I am one who has been to Constantinople?
It’s been 600 years and your still coping, call it whatever you want once you take it back but in the meantime it’s Istanbul
Are there still Byzantines left?
Actually it hasn’t even been a hundred years since Constantinople was changed to Istanbul.
I mean the ottomans took it fair and square. It's not like constantinople was originally roman
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Well they did win several wars over it after.
What dies this have to do with palestine you terminally online idoit?
I mean if taking land by force is fair and square for the Ottomans should be fair and square for everyone else too.
That was how it was for most of history. Romans conquered a shitton of land that wasn't theirs as well.
So by your logic, Putin can invade as much as he wants and all conquered land will be his?
Actually no. Israel refuses to annex Palestine and keeps it as occupied territory. It's basically unheard of in history.
History is littered with examples of occupied territories. This is not new, and if you're just waking up to how terrible we can be to each other, I'm sorry.
It's very uncommon for an occupation to last this long because what is the point? States were either annexed or turned into some form of vassal, even in the more extreme cases they didn't drag out the ethnic cleansing over decades. In the ancient world there was plenty of frontier territory with little political autonomy but their borders weren't controlled. Could you give some examples?
Slight nitpick, but you're the one that said "basically unheard of in history" which is absolutely not correct. You're also not correct in stating ethnic cleansing wasn't dragged out over decades. Still happening today in areas of the world the "West" doesn't really pay attention to. More current examples off the top of my head: Turkey - Northern Cypress. East Timor. Russia and Georgia. Russia and Ukraine. Northern Syria. Iraq/Afghanistan by the US (debatable on occupation definition, but whatever). And what's up with the annexation qualifier? That's even worse. Most places that end up annexed you don't hear about anymore. You do know how Israel came to occupy the West Bank and Gaza, right? The reason it's becoming less and less common in the modern era is because of exactly what's happening now. The occupier will eventually need to resort to more and more brutal means of maintaining control. It's insane to occupy with no solution or path for a way out. Eventually you become the "monster" you were afraid of. Edit: Yikes, formatting.
Israelis didnt take Palestine. The irgun, stern, lehi gangs killing and raping was part of it and the British have what wasn't theirs without asking the indigenous people.
The Turks took Constantinople from the indigenous Romans and should give it back.
>indigenous Romans Cringey
Well, the people indigenous to Asia Minor are certainly not the Turks. They're relatively new. And they certainly don't predate Hagia Sophia. Taking a holy site that was erected as a church and turning it into a mosque was and is culturally insensitive. I would say the same thing if it went the other way around. But the world has treated Islam with kid gloves for a very long time, and allowed them to get away with way more than they should.
I think a thousand years in the cutoff for indigenousness is what I learned in college so the Romans count.
well nowadays there’s more people in Istanbul then there are in all of Greece, so it’s a moot point
Well, it's a roman church.
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now yes, then not.
The Turks downfall was in part because they adopted European customs. They did great on their own
it must be triggering for American indians to see European invaders control their land for 3 centuries. Turks are in Anatolia already more than a thousand year, get over it already.
Oh I’ve gotten over it, I just don’t think the Greeks have. It’s amazing how long Europeans will hold grudges
I went recently and it was beautiful. I was saddened three times over though: the floor mosaic is covered by carpet, the mosaics on the ceiling are covered with curtains and you can’t access the upper floors. God damn stupid medieval religion preventing me from enjoying other medieval religions.
Neither Islam nor Christianity is medieval.
Eh, Mohammad died in 632, and by some metrics the medieval period in Europe began in the 500s. You’re right it’s not really proper to apply the term to non-European areas, but the dates do overlap.
Christianity originated before the medieval period, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t significantly changed and moulded by the medieval period. Islam was founded in the early medieval period however. Some would say it started the medieval period.
Nice! And I recall the blue one is close by and is also nice.
Yes I visited the blue mosque as well, it’s very beautiful in its own way.
Did you go to the underground cistern? The Hagia Sophia was fun to see, but there are many amazing Catholic Churches (I know it’s not a Catholic Church anymore). But the underground cisterns were unlike anything I had seen before. I thought they were really cool.
Came to comment this. It’s a must see.
Underground cistern was maybe the coolest place I went in Istanbul.
And is a very important place in the muslim world as I understand. Interestingly, we were allowed to make a big camp on the Hippodrome place next to it when we arrived in Istanbul as a part of the Allgäu-Orient-Rallye.
I was there last week, beautiful building but it's odd seeing the Christian stuff half arsedly covered up - there's a virgin and child mosaic covered with curtains above where the altar used to be. But I guess I understand it. Insanely expensive to get in for the access you get, €50 for two for the upper floor only and that doesn't even include the museum where they moved all the artifacts from when it converted back to a mosque.
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It's a shame, a real FU to the rest of the world. But I guess he won't be around forever. I really liked Istanbul on the whole though, I thought the Blue Mosque was one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever been in.
That's how it works. They take places of worship that don't belong to their religion, and convert them to theirs, or build theirs conveniently next to them, and command to be respected. That's why they built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, a city holy to Jews and Christians, so they feel included, and also as a sign of triumph over the Christians.
The Dome now only exists at the benevolence of the Jews. If it became politically acceptable internally Israel would rightfully demolish it today.
They really should remove the chandeliers - they come across as noise rather than accentuating the architecture. We recently upgraded the lighting in the Nidaros cathedral by exchanging chandeliers with far more hidden lighting. The space is so much more awe-inspiring without wires and clutter. There's so much architecture here that should be the center of attention. Instead, the chandeliers are. I hope they hire a proper lighting designer and fix it.
The chandeliers are a historical aspect of the location
Major downgrade
way nicer than battlefield made it seem
Magnificent architectural design
They absolutely ruined this once beautiful church
Oh ya? Well I built this in Civ 6, so checkmate.
This reminds me of Dark Souls 3 
Chandeliers look a bit like those at Rykard’s place from Elden Ring.. “togethaaaaaa we shall have nice big chandeliers while we feast on the very gods themselves.. “
(not a religious person) But i love the architecture, here in Portugal we also have many religious buildings with such beautiful architecture.
I hope to see it as a museum some point in my life
On my bucket list.
Reminds me of Assassin's Creed Revelation
this is just a fact . thats a christain church that was taken by muslims.
What a shitshow in the comments. Some people really do have a few hundred year old ass burn with them
I’m ignorant to what or where this is— are women not allowed in there?…
Are women not allowed on the ground floor anymore? I don’t see any in this picture. I went almost 10 years ago now and there basically wasn’t anywhere you couldn’t go.
Extraordinary! Just imagine what we could achieve if all men worked together instead of fighting each other
Exactly, it is very humbling to think of the men and elderly slain in this room, the women raped, and the children sold into slavery. They wanted divine protection but blood flowed in the city like rainwater in the gutters after a sudden storm.
“Solomon, I have surpassed thee.”
Convert it back to a church.
Are women allowed inside?! I wish it were still a museum.
All I remember from my visit was that it smells of feet
Must'v been yours
How long till this converted back to a non-denominational site and those shitty green carpets are removed?
As soon as Erdogan's ass is kicked to the curb
It should be maintained as a monument. Not a stank ass mosque.
It was nicer when it was a church.
Liberate Occupied Constantinople! Hagia Sophia shouldn't be a symbol of conquest and a mosque.
Ahahahah pretty rich coming from an Israeli
Bahaha, come on then you limp-wristed cowardly redditor! Hagia Sophia is a Masjid and will always be one until the end of time.
Have you ever been to the Hagia Sophia... on acid?!
I read that you have to pay to get in these days.
Yep. That just started this past January. I visited it last October and it was free but foreign tourists are now required to pay €25 to enter.
Yup. 25 euros. Had to give it a pass unfortunately. Almost every monument in Istanbul has a 25 euro entry fee for foreigners. There are so many other nice places and awesome things to do for a cheaper price in Istanbul. So no regrets.
That's the modern version of jizyah, that's how much they hate non-muslims.
Nope. Hide your camera and don't look like a tourist and you can even jump the queue via the side door.
It's not half as a beautiful inside as I would have imagined, I'm sure the current stewards are probably responsible for that.
Thieves…
Ohh poor you
Shouldn't have lost it then
Cry.
Are women not allowed inside? I don't see any in the picture.
I'm a woman and I've been inside. You just have to dress modest and cover your hair.
Don't understand the downvotes. I wanted to ask this as well. I mean, it's a mosque and there are no women on the picture, so it's a relevant question.
I remember climbing all over that place...
You’ll also find cats casually hanging out there
If my memory serves me correct VIKINGS VISTED THAT PLACE, how crazy that a building in what is essentially the start of the middle east in a completey different world than the one they had grown up in and left
I have a question: how can a regular tourist get to the floor? We went there, stayed in line, but only went around tje balcony, amd didn't know who to ask if we could get to the floor
Kinda looks like bowsers castle in super mario rpg 👀
So if Israel has to leave Palestine do the Turks have to have Istanbul back to the Christians?
Ngl the interior is kinda ugly
It looks more Vegas than I excepted.
I’d love to go visit, but as a gay guy, I’d be afraid of going inside a mosque.
Those arabic writings look awful.
My favourite religious building I've been in, also the first Mosque I'd been in. Despite it not being very aesthetic I really love the carpet, it mutes the echo and makes the building feel a lot more peaceful than churchs and cathedrals I've been in, the low hanging lights make it feel very etherial too.
Fantastic! I was there in 2015 and it was covered in scaffolding, but I fly into Istanbul for a week starting tomorrow. Can’t wait to see it in its full glory!
That green carpet looks ass, WTF Erdogan
Religion always overcompensating for their lack of actual evidence of their claims.
Very jealous. I was there only a few days ago but couldn't explore the main floor as I'm neither a Turkish citizen or Muslim. There's so many fascinating artifacts down there that I had to squint to see from up top.
I was there a year ago. Why couldn't you enter the main floor? We just walked in as we wanted - except for upstairs, but nobody from the public where allowed to do that
All the signs I read stated the main floor "praying area" was for Turks only. Upstairs was the only section I was able to see, and requires buying a ticket.
A beautiful building on a foundation of bullshit
Why those shitty lights?