Hagia Sophia Museum is open everyday except Mon between 9:30 am to 5 pm. The admission fee is 10 YTL which is approximately 8 EUR or 7 USD in 2006 season.
Hagia Sophia Church is one of the most extraordinary buildings in the history of architecture and from the Golden Age of Byzantium. It played such an important role in Byzantine Empire as well as in Ottoman Empire as a mosque.
The word "Hagia" in Greek means "Divine" and "Sophia" means "Wisdom". "Divine Wisdom" is one of the attributes of Jesus Christ and this church is devoted to his divine wisdom. The Church of Hagia Irene was another church which was also devoted to "peace" attribute of Jesus Christ. The church was first completed in 360 during the reign of Constantinus. It was called as "Megala Ekklessia", the Great Church. This church was burnt in 404 during a revolt. A new church was built in the same place, by emperor Theodosius on Oct,405. It was also destroyed in a fire. The third and the last church was completed in 537 by Emperor Justinian I. It was completed only in 5 years. Emperor Justinian I was a very strong believer of Christianity and he wanted to use the church as a means for enlarging the scope of Christianity. This church served as the heart of the empire, all coronation and major baptism ceremonies took place here. When Turks conquered Istanbul in 1453, the first thing Mehmed "the Conqueror" did was to order the conversion of the church into a mosque. Because Prophet Mohammad had said that the army who conquered Istanbul would have Allah's Grace. From then on, the Church served as a great mosque, with four minarets added in different periods. The mosaics on the walls were covered with plaster because they were forbidden in Islam. Actually this helped the preservation of the mosaics and frescoes. The mosque was carpeted and the pulpit was put on the southern part of the church. Hagia Sophia served as a mosque until Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ordered the conversion of the mosque into a museum. He believed that it was a world heritage and people could come and see it. Therefore, in 1929, the plasters started to be removed and in 1940s, it was reopened as a museum.
While approaching the church from Blue Mosque, one gets impressed by the red big building with a splendid dome. The building is huge and vast. When entered through the main gate, one passes through two different narthexes (entrance). In the second entry hall (endonarthex), there's a big bronze gate which is from the reign of Justinian I. This was the main imperial gate to the church which was only reserved for the emperor's passage. Right above the gate, there's a mosaic which is from 9th C. Jesus Christ is in the middle, on the right hand side is Angel Gabriel and on left is Blessed Virgin. The depiction of Emperor Leo VI is also in the mosaic. The ceiling is reveted with floral mosaics. On the left end of the endonarthex, there's the ramp leading to the galleries on the second floor.
The interior of the church is vast. The building is covered with a big central dome which is 56 m., 150 feet high, 33 m.,72 feet in diameter. The dome was decorated with Arabic calligraphic writings during the Ottoman Era. The building is strengthened with columns in green and purple color. Purple (porphyry) was the sacred color of the Byzantium. The emperors were born to purple color fabrics, used this color in their costumes and buried in purple color fabrics. Upon walking into the church, one sees a square which was "Coronation Square" of the Byzantium Emperors. All of the Byzantine Emperors were coroneted in Hagia Sophia Church. On the right wing of the church, there's the "Library of Mahmud I", which is an Ottoman Era addition(1739). The nave of the church is beautiful, it was facing east when it was an orthodox church. After the conversion of the church into a mosque, the nave was decorated with big candlesticks and stain-colored glass. There is a pulpit on the left of the nave. This pulpit is no way comparable to the ones in original mosques but it was a later addition as well. Above ,on the left of the nave there's the "Lodge of the sultan" which was designed as a secret lodge for prayer ceremonies of the Ottoman Sultans. This is a work of Italian Fossati Brothers who came to restore the Church in the 19th century and built many additions to the church. The mosaic on the apse is splendid...It's the depiction of Blessed Virgin and Jesus Christ and this mosaic is from the 9th C. It's completely original.
To reach the galleries on the second floor, one climbs a ramp which is very impressive . There are three splendid mosaics here on this section. The first one is located in the southeast of the main church. It depicts the judgment day of the world, "the Deesis", Jesus Christ is in the middle, on the left is John the Baptist, on the right is Blessed Virgin. This mosaic is spectacular because the pieces used for the mosaic is quite little and this made the mosaic look like a picture. Even the cheek color or the wrinkles of John the Baptist is easily recognized. The other two mosaics are located in the eastern end of the Church. The one on the left depicts Emperor Monomachos IX with his wife, Zoe. Jesus Christ is in the middle. The one on the right depicts Empress Irene and Emperor Komnenos II with Blessed Virgin and Jesus Christ on her nap. As one walks to the very left end of the church, can come close to the beautiful mosaic on the apse which Blessed Virgin and child Jesus Christ.

Another "next time"-mission for me is the Hagia Sofia-mosque (probably the third way I've spelled the name on my pages now... I'll keep it to that spelling in the future...). Four and a half day in Istanbul rans off fast, so I never got the chance to get inside the Hagia Sofia. From the outside it looks fantastic though, and for me it's even more powerfull than the Blue Mosque. It was built and done as early as 537, and was for many hundred years the biggest church in the world, plus also the biggest building with a roof in the world. Actually, if you're interested in history, the church was built even earlier, some 200 years. But when a huge war erased in Konstantinopel (which later on became Istanbul) the first, and much smaller, Hagia Sofia was left in ruin. The emperior Justinianus, who won the war, decided to build a new church, more mighty than anything else. It even became a bit too mighty. During the first couple of hundred years the roof went down three times... Well, you can't win them all - but nowadays the roof should be safe on it's place... When Mehmet the conquerer and his men rode into Konstantinopel in in 1453 the Hagia Sofia was saved from beinged destroyed by just Mehmet, but was at the same time changed into a mosque. Sultan Mehmet, who he later became, also tried to build something even mightier. The architect Atik Sinan got the order, but when he had finished the Fatith Mosque the sultan was annoyed with the result, and Sinan had to live the rest of his life without his head... Today isn't the building neither a mosque. Kemal Atatürk decided that it should only be a museum, which it still is today. Open 9.30-16.30 (until 19.00 in the summer). Closed on mondays. Entrancefee around 15 lira.

The Aya Sofia is the one image that flashes before our eyes when someone mentions the city of Istanbul. It is quite simply and with considerable justification, one of the most recognized buildings in the world. It was built over the ruins of two older churches in 537 by Justinian the Great who then ruled the Byzantine Empire. It was the largest place of worship in Christiandom until the completion of St. Peter's in Rome one thousand years later. The Aya Sofia was a cathedral until the Turkish conquest of Constaninople in 1453 when it was turned into a mosque. The Moslems built four minerats at the corners of building at this time. Ataturk turned the mosque into a museum in 1935. The Aya Sofia is entered through the east entrance where you actually pass some of the remains of the earlier churches. As you pass into the exonarthex which is vaulted outer vestibule before entering the inner vestibule. Here overhead you can see some of the original mosaics from Justinians time. They are quite stunning, designed in various geometric shapes in wonderful colours. From here you pass through the Imperial Gandt and underneath the stupendous dome. The dome is remarkable for its size and the height that it soars over those that behold it. It is 56m high and 31m across. With various mosaics and calligraphic discs(the largest in the Islamic world) spread across the walls and the ceiling, the building becomes quite awe inspiring. I cannot begin to list all of the marvels of this wonderful structure without exhausting myself. However the must-sees include a visit to the first floor where you will find some of the most remarkable mosaics in Christiandom. Most of these are on the southend of the floor in the Empress Zoe Gallery. They date from the 9th and 10th century. It should be noted that the Aya Sofia is justifiably very popular, hence it is very crowded. Wisely I visited first think in the morning. Thankfully I was staying just 300m from the building. Still it became incredibly crowded in no time so be patient when you visit.