Turkiye launches major Hagia Sophia restoration to bolster quake resilience

Turkiye has launched a landmark restoration project on Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, marking the most extensive structural intervention to the 1,500-year-old monument in over 150 years.

The restoration focuses on reinforcing the main dome and surrounding semi-domes to withstand potential earthquakes. “We have been carrying out intensive restoration efforts on Hagia Sophia and its surrounding structures for three years,” said Mehmet Selim Okten, a construction engineer and member of the scientific council overseeing the renovations.

“We are now focusing on the seismic safety of Hagia Sophia, especially in light of the expected Istanbul earthquake.”

A steel platform is being built atop four 43.5-metre columns to allow restoration work to continue without halting worship. A newly installed tower crane will also help transport materials to the upper sections, where experts will examine the building’s layers for damage caused by fires and earthquakes over the centuries.

Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy confirmed that no original structure or decorations would be altered. “The most accurate and well-informed reinforcement will be carried out carefully and without haste,” restoration academic Hasan Firat Diker was quoted as saying.

The works form part of a broader 50-year plan launched in 2023 to address “centuries-old fatigue” in Hagia Sophia’s structure. The monument, originally built as a Byzantine cathedral in 537, became an Ottoman mosque in 1453 and was later converted into a museum in 1935. In 2020, it was controversially reconverted into a mosque by court order.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, Hagia Sophia remains one of Turkiye’s most visited landmarks. The current restoration is being closely watched amid heightened fears of seismic activity following the 2023 earthquake in southern Turkiye, which claimed over 53,000 lives.

READ: Turkiye introduces €25 entrance fee for tourists at Hagia Sophia Mosque