After being transferred to the Presidency of Religious Affairs, the Hagia Sophia was opened for worship on July 24, 2020. The grand ceremony was attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, marking the first Friday prayer in 86 years.
Since then, the mosque has welcomed a remarkable total of 21 million visitors in just three years. The influx of tourists has led to queues of hundreds of meters forming in front of the mosque.
To manage the crowd, visitors are allowed entry in groups, and the entrances are closed once the inside becomes crowded. During prayer times, visitors are not permitted to pass to the front of the mosque to respect the sanctity of the prayers.
The mosque opens to visitors with the morning prayer and closes its doors after the night prayer. This allows tourists to experience the rich history and cultural significance of this iconic landmark.
Bünyamin Topçuoğlu, the imam of Hagia Sophia-i Kebir Mosque-i Şerif, recalled that the mosque was reopened three years ago amid the coronavirus epidemic, during a time when numerous restrictions were in place.
The imam emphasized that the visits were conducted in a carefully controlled manner, taking into account the pandemic situation, and there were no foreign visitors during that time.
"There has been a notable increase in visitors since 2022. In that year, the mosque welcomed a total of 13.6 million visitors. Additionally, during January to June 2023, around 6 million visitors have already visited the mosque, and this number is steadily growing.
Notably, Indonesian pilgrims and travellers now prioritize visiting Hagia Sophia before heading to Mecca and Medina, making it a significant stop on their journeys," Topçuoğlu said in a statement.
"The spiritual significance of Hagia Sophia as a symbol of conquest is truly unique. Every time I visit, I feel a profound sense of pleasure, akin to entering the Prophet's Mosque.
The spirituality within these walls is so powerful. Once, I prayed the night prayer here, something that became possible after the mosque's reopening.
That spiritual energy deeply touched us," Topçuoğlu, who also served as Fatih imam before, pointed out while concluding his comments.
