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Türkiye aims to open suitable sections of the underground areas beneath Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to the public once protection, security, and visitor infrastructure work is completed, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said.
Hagia Sophia is a sixth-century structure in Istanbul that served as a cathedral and later a mosque, and it is open for worship and visits today.
Ersoy spoke to journalists at the Antalya Culture Road Festival, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the fourth time this year. He said the ministry plans to first show the areas and its work on site to members of the press at an early date.
The minister said which areas can be opened to visits will be determined by scientific studies and security conditions. He added that this would make the historic layers of Hagia Sophia that cannot be seen today better known.
Ersoy said research and extensive work continue in the building’s underground historic areas. About 3,000 tons of mud and rubble have been removed so far, and a historic tunnel, a water channel and cellars have been examined.
He said the team has reached new spaces as it progresses in some sections. Some are large enough for people to pass through, but the functions and historical connections of all the areas have not yet been determined.
The minister said the structures offer information about Istanbul’s historic water management and infrastructure, and that researchers are studying underground systems used for rainwater drainage and water distribution.
Work in a four-room underground tomb, known as a hypogeum, in the northeastern section is also helping researchers understand traces from periods older than Hagia Sophia, Ersoy said.
Ersoy said the ministry is carrying out the most comprehensive restoration, conservation and strengthening work in Hagia Sophia in the history of the Republic.
Members of the scientific board described it as one of the most extensive interventions since the era of Mimar Sinan, the 16th-century Ottoman chief architect.
Strengthening work has begun on the half dome in the eastern section, where the mihrab, a niche indicating the direction of prayer, and the minbar, the pulpit, are located. Ersoy said the structure remains open to worship and visits during the work.
Ersoy said the ministry is protecting the legacy of Fatih, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, who conquered Istanbul in 1453, with a holistic approach, from the dome to the underground structures.
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