Hagia Sophia

page 2

Hagia Sophia
tips & insights

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Pronunciation

Phonetically, Hagia Sophia is pronounced:

HEY-yah soh-FEE-ah

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Optical illusion

Forty windows ring the base of the 16-story-high dome, making it seem to upward-gazing viewers 16 floors below that the dome is levitating.

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Huge

Photos could never give us a sense of that illusion or of the hugeness of the Hagia Sophia's internal space. We have to see this 1400-year-old wonder in Istanbul, Turkey firsthand.

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Physical condition

Parts of the Hagia Sophia building are currently in regrettable condition due to centuries of neglect. A major effort is afoot to save and restore this masterpiece of the ages.

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Blue Mosque

Don't miss the Blue Mosque, a neighbor of the Hagia Sophia. Its exterior architecture is elegantly beautiful. It's a working mosque, but non-Muslims can visit it during non-prayer periods.

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