Istanbul Guide

Christ Enthroned with Empress Zoe and Constantine IX Monomachos This mosaic portrait in the upper gallery depicts Zoe, one of only three Byzantine women to rule as empress in their own right.

BYELIKOVA OKSANA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

MARK READ/LONELY PLANET ©

Dome Soaring 56m from ground level, the dome was originally covered in gold mosaics but was decorated with calligraphy during the 1847–49 restoration works overseen by Swiss-born architects Gaspard and Giuseppe Fossati. vel, the dome d mosaics but hy during the s overseen by Gaspard and eppe Fossati.

Ottoman Tombs The tombs of À ve Ottoman sultans and their families are located in Aya Sofya’s southern corner and

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Aya Sofya Tombs

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can be accessed via Bab × hümayun

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Caddesi. One of these occupies the church’s original Baptistry.

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Former Baptistry

Muvakkithane (place where prayer hours were determined)

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Ablutions Fountain

Exit

Primary School

Main Entrance

Constantine the Great, the Virgin Mary and Emperor Justinian This 11th-century mosaic shows Constantine (right) o ՙ ering the Virgin Mary the city of Constantinople. Justinian (left) is o ՙ ering her Hagia Sophia.

Grave of Enrico Dandolo The Venetian doge died in 1205, only one year after he and his Crusaders had stormed the city. A 19th-century marker in the upper gallery indicates the probable location of his grave.

VLADYSLAV DANILIN / SHUTTERSTOCK ©