The Hagia Sophia Experience Museum is an interesting proposal to gain a better and deeper understanding of the history of this mosque which, if we also count its first centuries as a basilica, already has some 1,500 years of history. In the following lines, we explain what the visit consists of and whether it might be worth adding to your travel itinerary.
What is the Hagia Sophia Experience Museum?
The Hagia Sophia Experience Museum is a museum that offers a modern and immersive approach to learning about the history of Hagia Sophia, much like the similar museum in Ephesus, as we mentioned in another post. In fact, it is managed by the same company, DEM, which specializes in these types of audiovisual experiences in tourist destinations.
It is located in a different building from the mosque itself, just 400 meters away, and is also situated in Sultanahmet Square, which was originally the Hippodrome of Constantinople (address: Binbirdirek, At Meydanı Cd No:10). Therefore, it is designed to be visited before or after Hagia Sophia, as the best complement for a total understanding of the site. This is why the building also houses a history section, and the full name of the venue is the Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum (Museo de Historia y Experiencia de Santa Sofía).
The interior of the building consists of several floors. The area dedicated to the experiential part includes several rooms equipped with dim lighting and walls that act as screens, where images of the mosque are projected. These are recreations created with modern media so that visitors can immerse themselves in the different episodes that have shaped its evolution: from its foundation as a basilica in the time of Justinian I to the present day.
The rest of the building consists of rooms with display cases showcasing some of the artworks and historical pieces most closely related to Hagia Sophia, such as Korans, capitals, and architectural elements. And, above all, mosaics that allow for a better interpretation of the temple’s original decoration when it was built in honor of Holy Wisdom (the meaning of its name), featuring human and divine representations, as is traditional in the Christian world… and as is forbidden in Islamic art, which is why they were eventually removed or covered after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and its conversion into a mosque.
Is it worth visiting this museum?
There is no unanimous answer to this: some visitors enjoy it and highly recommend it, while others feel it is not an essential visit. Or at least, not for the price of the ticket (remember there is a combined ticket for this museum and the mosque), as it involves a supplement that significantly increases the cost.
For example, for those most interested in a deep dive into its history, evolution, and art, it will be useful to spend several hours exploring its rooms, especially if one is receptive to the contributions of new technologies in this type of storytelling and is traveling with children, who are always more inclined toward these types of experiences.
In fact, these museums are quite common for similar monuments, such as Catholic cathedrals: for reasons of space and the quality of the visit, a ‘cathedral museum’ is created to display the temple’s masterpieces, such as paintings or sculptures, individually.
On the other hand, if you have limited time in Istanbul and prefer more popular and human experiences, you might prefer to spend that time visiting other places such as the Spice Bazaar, the Galata Tower, a Bosphorus cruise, or the Beyoglu neighborhood, to name just a few examples.
