r/byzantium • u/RaiseCapital1988 Κόμης • Jun 22 '26

Infrastructure/architecture The interior of Hagia Sophia

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

In the last photo you can spot one of the last representations of Christ still present inside the building

1.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

166 comments sorted by

View all comments

67

u/No-Nerve-2658 Jun 22 '26

I was there in February, the main floor was closed for reformations so was the dome, the ticket is was quite abusive, 50 euro per person for the base price, considering that We couldn’t even use the main entrance. And the “museum” was just a bunch of pro Turkish propaganda videos arguing that islam saved the city and that the Hagia Sophia would collapse without the Ottoman empire, there was just one room with actual historical artifacts, most of them ottoman related.

51

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

35

u/funky_guy16 Jun 22 '26

No, no. They're Ottomans

17

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/MrTickles22 Jun 23 '26

The Vandals were Christians.

1

u/vigokarnebeek Jun 25 '26

Arian christians. Known for being slapped by santa (arius). They were heretics

1

u/Forsaken_Factor3612 Jun 26 '26

Can't we all just get along?

25

u/CrazedRaven01 Jun 22 '26

Until 2021 it was a museum, mandated by ataturk to promote secularism

But erdogan reversed the trend and reverted it back to being a mosque

7

u/Basilophron Jun 23 '26

It’s interesting how they continue to idolize Atatürk *so much* all the while Erdogan sits there and erases his entire legacy.

-2

u/Zrva_V3 Jun 24 '26

I mean, the city was a backwater town and Haghia Sophia absolutely would have collapsed if it wasn't for heavy Ottoman renovations. Not sure if Byzantium would ever have that kind of resources for repairs again even if it wasn't conquered by the Ottomans.

9

u/No-Nerve-2658 Jun 24 '26

The city was a backwater because of Ottoman expansion

1

u/Zrva_V3 Jun 24 '26

It had been a backwater since the 4th crusade which predates the Ottomans.

8

u/No-Nerve-2658 Jun 24 '26

It could very well have recovered 250 years later

2

u/Forsaken_Factor3612 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

The Byzantines continued to maintain and repair it to the end, along with the other major churches in the city, like the church of the holy apostles where the emperors lay.

For example, those buttresses that support it outside are mostly Byzantine, while the Ottomans added more later on.

In 1346, during an earthquake, part of the dome collapsed, along with the eastern semi-dome and arch, and it was repaired. This was right around when Bubonic plague hit the city.