@travel_enthusiast_xcii: 📍Hagia Sophia - Istanbul, Turkey 🇹🇷 April 2024 The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque is a mosque, a former church, and a significant historical and cultural site in Istanbul, Turkey. It was originally built as a church by the Eastern Roman Empire and completed in the year 537 AD. The site started as an Eastern Orthodox Church from the years 360 to 1204 AD. It was converted to a Catholic Church following the Fourth Crusade before it was reclaimed in 1261 and remained an Eastern Orthodox Church until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in the year 1453. After the Ottomans took over, it served as a mosque until the year 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, it became a mosque again. Signs of these multiple transitions at the Hagia Sophia can be seen all around inside. For the most part, it is a mosque now but you can still see plenty of remnants remaining inside on the walls showcasing its past time as a church. As of this post, the opening hours of the Hagia Sophia are from 9:00 AM to 7:30 pm, 7 days a week. The mosque remains partially open to tourists and non-worshippers during prayer hours using barriers to separate the prayer section. It’s highly suggested you get there early before the crowds arrive so you don’t have to wait too long. It can get especially crowded on the weekend days. There are ways to skip the lines, we were with a private tour guide by Guided Istanbul Tours, who had priority access benefits that proved useful to us. Fees to enter the Hagia Sophia start around 25 euros as of this post. You will have to go through a security queue before entering and there is a dress code that you must follow as it is a place of worship. #traveltips #hagiasophia #hagiasophiamosque #istanbul #turkey #turkey🇹🇷

Nolan

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Thursday 09 May 2024 17:12:27 GMT