Business is business, in Türkiye as elsewhere. You will now have to take out your wallet to be able to visit Hagia Sophia, reports France Info. Foreign visitors wishing to pray or simply enter the famous Byzantine basilica of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), built in the 6th century, must pay the equivalent of 25 euros from this Monday. A measure which should make it possible to finance maintenance and conservation work.
The new entry fees are clearly displayed on the esplanade in front of the main entrance, reserved for Turkish citizens only: an orange sign directs foreigners to a side entrance and eight ticket counters lined up. This entrance, compared in the Turkish press to “a garage entrance” with its rolling shutter and security gates, gives access to an open tunnel under the Beyazit minaret through which visitors can admire the Hagia Sophia without disturbing the prayers.
This decision corresponds to a new visitor management plan, on the recommendation of UNESCO, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, warned this fall. Hagia Sophia has the particularity of having been transformed into a mosque in the 15th century, then into a museum by Atatürk in 1934, before becoming a place of worship again in 2020, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Since then, the long queues that wrap around the monument bear witness to its growing appeal. A success held responsible for having caused damage and even vandalism to the imperial wooden gate, 7 meters high, due to lack of adequate protection measures.