Istanbul's Hagia Sofia will no longer be free to visit by foreign tourists

[FameMonster01 7,208]

37 minutes ago, r4therupbeat said:

so free for the Greeks right?

I hope it is

[Modern Ecstacy 3,888]

Thank god I went inside before they started charging for it 

[TimotheeChalamet 6,943]

1 hour ago, GAGASEXUAL said:

You should come again 

Who knows, maybe next summer 

[SevenWonder 4,744]

One of the most impressive buildings I've ever seen. Just amazing. I am an atheist, but it felt so spiritually moving to be there. 

(Fwiw, I would have no problem paying a fee to see it. Especially if that helps with upkeep.)

[Ayesha Erotica 1,924]

5 hours ago, FfFfFfFF said:

Poltically, converting it into a mosque was a decision aimed to anger Greece in particular, and it was yet another signal Turkey is moving from secularism back to Islamism and attempts to revive its Ottoman past.

Indeed. When the US will be looking away in a possible upcoming war over Taiwan, Turkey will snatch some Greek islands, it already is heavily militarizing for a while and shamelessly bombing Syria

In my opinion, Hagia Sofia should be a church as it is a symbol for Greek Christianity.

(if you want to reply, you can do it in the Transnistria topic, to package our discussion in one topic. I wanted to add that, Romania was not only under Soviet influence, there was a time it was under the influence of the Ottoman empire. And if NATO falls apart, Turkey might want to bring back its influence on you. Look at what they are doing to Syria...both Russia and Turkey have imperial ambitions and you are inbetween)

 

[FfFfFfFF 58,116]

11 hours ago, SevenWonder said:

One of the most impressive buildings I've ever seen. Just amazing. I am an atheist, but it felt so spiritually moving to be there. 

(Fwiw, I would have no problem paying a fee to see it. Especially if that helps with upkeep.

The beauty of the service at the Hagia Sofia convinced Olga of Kyiv of converting to Orthodox Christianity. So the reason why Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are now Orthodox can be traced back to the beauty of this building.

Before that, the Kievan Rus was entertaining the idea of converting to Islam, Juidaism or Catholicism/Western Christianity, but Olga believed Hagia Sofia blew everything else out of the water.

Now also imagine that in its day, there were no skyscrapers or buildings at comparable size in major cities across Europe. Hagia Sofia was simply immense- a manmade hill basically.

[SevenWonder 4,744]

6 hours ago, FfFfFfFF said:

The beauty of the service at the Hagia Sofia convinced Olga of Kyiv of converting to Orthodox Christianity. So the reason why Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are now Orthodox can be traced back to the beauty of this building.

Before that, the Kievan Rus was entertaining the idea of converting to Islam, Juidaism or Catholicism/Western Christianity, but Olga believed Hagia Sofia blew everything else out of the water.

Now also imagine that in its day, there were no skyscrapers or buildings at comparable size in major cities across Europe. Hagia Sofia was simply immense- a manmade hill basically.

That's so fascinating! Thanks for that historical context.

[dimitristhe 1,567]

First they destroyed the Christian imaginary, then they put Islamic symbols, then they make you pay for visit. 
Once again Turkish government doesn’t give any respect to cultural sites that weren’t made by them. Hagia Sophia is a Cathedral, not a museum and not a mosque. 

[Shadow 6,697]

Too bad... it's an amazing building. I wonder what they'll charge.

[Ivannn 1,150]

When was it free? It was in Istanbul two times and paid my ticket to entry it both times…

[FfFfFfFF 58,116]

1 hour ago, Ivannn said:

When was it free? It was in Istanbul two times and paid my ticket to entry it both times…

You must have visited before 2019, when it was still kept as a museum. Then Erdogan converted it to a mosque saying people will no longer have to buy tickets & it's going to be free for all, but not anymore.

[Evil R 1,084]

Haifa Sophia should stay museum. I don’t understand Christian extremists on this thread wanting it to be a church, they are no different than those who want it to be a mosque.

[Economy 52,844]

I mean how many places like this are free anyway?

[MelbHawker 6,583]

On 11/11/2023 at 5:27 AM, Art Deco said:

Haifa Sophia should stay museum. I don’t understand Christian extremists on this thread wanting it to be a church, they are no different than those who want it to be a mosque.

Hagia Sophia was built as a Christian Orthodox Church though.. it’s what it is. It’s not an extremist opinion to hold. It remains the symbol of Greek Orthodoxy to this day.

[FfFfFfFF 58,116]

5 hours ago, Economy said:

I mean how many places like this are free anyway?

The issue is that the conversion from a museum to a church was billed as a way to make entrance free for everybody. And now that it was made into a mosque, the fee is back.