Church of little Aya Sofia or Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Istanbul / Little Aya Sofya

Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus or little Aya Sofia (Little Aya Sofya, tour. Küçük Ayasofya Camii) "it's a functioning mosque. Although in fact this is not surprising, just originally built in the VI century by the Byzantines as an Orthodox Church, in the XVI century it was converted by the Ottomans into a mosque, and in this capacity it still serves.

Interestingly, it was built even earlier Hagia Sophia between 527 and 536. It is believed that it became the architectural prototype of the Hagia Sophia. Included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Since this is a functioning mosque, when visiting you need to follow the rules: no shorts, T-shirts, mini-skirts, take off your shoes at the entrance. Do not visit the mosque during prayers (namaz), because you will interfere with believers, besides, at this time you can not take pictures.

To make it more interesting to get acquainted with sights of Istanbul, you can pick up online Russian-language tours of Istanbul on one of these trusted sites:

• Excursions from the tour operator TezTour
• Excursions from Sputnik8
• Trips from Tripster