Hagia Sophia Entrance Fee in 2024
According to the latest tourism news in Turkey, from March 1st 2024, entrance fees to all touristic sites will be stated in euros. As our country has lately been dealing with high inflation, we were not too surprised by this move of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Built between 532 and 537 CE, the Hagia Sophia operated as a Christian cathedral for more than 900 years. It became a mosque after the Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople in 1453. Centuries later, authorities turned it into a museum in the 1930s, before redesignating it as a mosque in 2020. So, from 2020 until very recently, it could be visited free of charge. Hagia Sophia entrance fee is 25 Euros in 2024. lt is free of charge for children under the age of 8, accompanied by an adult presenting a valid passport or ID. Only Turkish citizens who come to pray will be able to enter free of charge, from the gate on the park side of Hagia Sophia (which has been the main entrance for years) and will directly reach the ground floor. Foreign tourists will be using the new tourist entrance gate, reaching only the upper floor galleries. The ground floor will be open only to those who want to pray.
These changes opened a new debate regarding the primary purpose of the Hagia Sophia, UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. In July 2020, the government stripped it of its museum status and designated it as a functioning mosque for Muslim worship. However, UNESCO officials and archaeologists were against its use as a mosque, beecause the “uncontrolled flow of visitors” was damaging the historic building. Officials say the new changes may help address some of the archaeologists’ concerns, as security cameras and an emergency announcement system and fire detectors have also been installed in the building.
