€25 Entry Fee for Hagia Sophia Effective January 15, 2024

acraven this is a very interesting turn of events. When the president turned Hagia Sophia back into a mosque he promised that he wouldn't charge an entry fee - so much for that! That entry fee is pretty steep compared to other Istanbul attractions so it will be interesting to see how it impacts visitors. Plenty of tour companies and cruise lines will have to pivot their approaches. And you're probably correct about the euro pricing - I paid for several tourist things in euro and dollars (but not lira).

I'm curious how they'll route the visitors around the second floor. It will provide quite a different point of view of the building - but then you'll be able to see the old mosaics that you couldn't see from the main floor because they were obscured by curtains. Glad I got to see it from the main floor in any case.

acraven, that is interesting. I'm still not sure how I feel about entry fees in churches (I'm looking at you, Westminster Abbey!) but I do see how the endless stream of tourists takes its toll and requires additional upkeep and staff.

I still remember when I was there in 2007, and I popped in and out several times since I was staying fairly close. Guess that won't be happening again!

Well, drat. I had thought I might peek in when I go back to Istanbul, but I'm not sure I'd pay that steep of a fee for a 2nd visit.

That will have an interesting impact on RS tours that go there. Perhaps they already knew and had taken the price into account. Of course it may also reduce security lines.

As you say, acraven, I can optionally spend my former tourist Visa fee to pay for Hagia Sophia.

When the president turned Hagia Sophia back into a mosque he promised
that he wouldn't charge an entry fee - so much for that!

No reason to be surprised, Erdogan is as trustworthy as Putin.

I'm just going to consider myself to still be 25 euros ahead with the cancellation of the charge for the visa.......

Theologically I am totally opposed for paying for entry into a place of worship. I was lucky enough to go (often) to Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral and York Minster before they had entry fees.

I certainly wouldn't go to any of those now as a tourist.

Going for Worship is a totally different matter.

Or this week Exeter Cathedral popped up as a possible visit, until I found out that they charged (£7.50 in their case). I hadn't even thought of a small provincial cathedral charging. Exeter as it happens is not short of other interesting Churches.

Although a totally theoretical question for me, I guess the Hagia Sophia falls in that same camp now.

If people just didn't go because of the entry fees they would soon either remove or reduce them. But people pay whatever obscene level of charges Westminster Cathedral (at least) dreams up.

The mosques do work really hard to keep the floors (fully carpeted) clean, because worshipers walk on them without shoes and kneel on them.

When they converted Hagia Sophia to a mosque, I wondered how they were going to provide an income stream for ongoing maintenance and restoration costs, which I imagine are substantial, in a structure that old. Now we know.

Are they letting people go upstairs again at the Hagia Sophia? They weren't when I was there in 2021.

We hired Serhat Engul, the author of the Istanbul Clues site, for a couple of half day private tours last time I was in Istanbul. He's a good guy (and a good guide) and works very hard to provide accurate information on his website.

Two questions -

1. Is the Turkey Museum Pass worth it?
   https://muze.gov.tr/urun-detay?CatalogNo=WEB-MSP01-27-008
   It seems like it covers many of the museums that all recently hiked their prices.

2. Are there ATMs that dispense Euros? I keep seeing prices in Euros and that is what one of our guides requested, but I am unsure that traveling with lots of currency is possible (or wise). Thanks!

I don't think the Museum Pass would pay off of many visitors who are visiting only or primarily Istanbul. Perhaps folks traveling rapidly around the country would find enough covered sights, but I'm not sure about that. While the card covers the Topkapi Palace, it does not include Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Dolmabahce Palace or the Basilica Cistern. I went to quite a few mosques while I was in Istanbul; normally they are free, but they take time, so while you're seeing mosques you are not using the card. Similarly, a boat trip is a popular activity for tourists but would not be covered and would take considerable time.

The museum pass covers only sites owned and operated by the Turkish government. As acraven said, a lot of places like the Basilica Cistern, Dolmabahce Palace and mosques are not covered.

Topkapi Palace (including the harem) is the big ticket item that might make the museum pass worth getting. You just have to do the math with the rest of your itinerary. We did the museum pass on a 5 day stay in Istanbul a few years ago, and we barely broke even. I considered some of the regional museum passes last year, and I couldn't make the math work.

Yes, most of the ATMs (at least the ones I encountered) can dispense in either lira or euros. We had no problem getting euros out of an ATM to pay our guide.

Re: the recent museum card question, there is also an Istanbul specific museum card: https://muze.gov.tr/urun-detay?CatalogNo=WEB-MSP01-05-008 Same comment though as acraven and Marie you need to do the math to see if it works for you. And FWIW, the RS Best of Turkey tour supplies the all-of-Turkey museum card for tour members and it worked great for getting in places quickly, so long as you remembered to bring your card (those that forgot or lost their card just paid admission separately).

Just a little correction to some misinformation listed above. On the Museum Pass website today (1/20) Hagia Sophia is listed as one of the museums covered by this card. At today's exchange rates, you would need to determine if the approximately $82 cost of the Istanbul Museum Card would cover what you are visiting. $82-25= $57 for other sites of interest.

I don't think so, Carol. There's the Hagia Sophia mosque, and then there's a separate Hagia Sophia Museum. The card appears to cover the Museum but not the mosque. I don't think the mosque is government-owned.

Just checked the museum pass site, and it's a bit misleading and/or ambiguous. At first it sounds like Hagia Sophia mosque is included with the pass, but what they are actually listing is a list of UNESCO sites in Sultanahmet. Hagia Sophia is not listed under the list of museums included with the pass. So .... I dunno. The Turkish government controls the Hagia Sophia, but it's not a museum and they don't say that it's included with the pass. It might be worthwhile to send a direct query to them

I agree that this is a confusing situation!

The "Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum" is covered by the museum pass. It's a multimedia sort of affair in a separate building across from the Blue Mosque (near the obelisk), but it is not the mosque itself: https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?SectionId=YSM01&DistId=MRK I didn't have time to check it out when I was on a RS tour, but our guide had suggested alternative activities that she thought merited our free time.

I emailed the “contact us” link on the museum pass website. I asked, “ Is the Haggia Sophia Mosque included in the Museum Pass?” And politely thanked them for assistance. First response told me quite curtly that this was not the link for complaints and directed me elsewhere. Hmm…, I replied stating, “I have no complaints, only a question.” Second response, also curt, they didn’t have time for questions but I could contact another government agency that might answer my question.

I know when I am beat, this will remain a mystery for the time being. I do think the posters who explained about the difference between the mosque and the museum are probably giving the best answer.

Found confirmation that the Hagia Sophia is not included in the Museum Pass in this recent video. It has good info about recent changes so I have included the link if people are interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX8koYm667U

I'm readjng a news article about Mount Fuji, Japan introducing an admission fee.

Apparently the reason for the U turn over the Hagia Sophia was that UNESCO forced Turkey to introduce a Visitor Management Plan for the HS to reduce over tourism.
The same has happened over Mount Fuji.