Little Hagia Sophia
Justinian built this alongside Hagia Sophia as a personal vow to the saints who, by legend, saved him from a death sentence — and scholars rank its carved decoration second only to that church.
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Erected between 527 and 536 AD as one of Justinian's first acts as emperor, this former Greek Orthodox church was praised by the historian Procopius as an adornment to the entire city. A modern scholar calls it second only to Hagia Sophia in Constantinople for originality of architecture and sumptuousness of carved decoration. It was converted to a mosque during the Ottoman Empire and still functions as one.
What to look for
- The central dome plan — the defining structural feature of this sixth-century Byzantine design
- The carved stone decoration, ranked by a modern historian of the East Roman Empire as surpassed in the city only by Hagia Sophia itself
- Its position just south of the Hippodrome, near the ruins of the Great Palace
In the Kumkapı neighborhood of Fatih, a short distance from the Marmara Sea; the shore is now cut off by Kennedy Avenue and the Sirkeci-Halkalı suburban railway line.
Little Hagia Sophia is one of 39 sights worth the detour in Istanbul, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Istanbul pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Istanbul
- Hagia SophiaCompleted in 537, it held the title of world's largest church for over 500 years — then a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again.
- Constantinople (Istanbul)One peninsula that served as the throne of four empires for sixteen centuries straight.
- Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)Ahmed I placed it directly opposite Hagia Sophia in 1609 and gave it six minarets — a deliberate challenge to the city's greatest building.
- Topkapı PalaceFor nearly four centuries, the sultans who ruled the Ottoman Empire lived and governed from here — until the court finally moved to Dolmabahçe in 1856.
- ByzantiumGreeks from Megara planted a colony here in the 7th century BC — and the name they gave it eventually became the word for an entire empire.
- Rams Park (Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex)Galatasaray's 53,978-seat fortress on the European side of Istanbul — and the second most eco-friendly stadium on the planet.