The underground arcades of Hagia Sophia come to light – See photos

The underground structures of Hagia Sophia, which include tunnels, cellars, corridors and an underground catacomb with three rooms, will be opened to visitors after the cleaning work.

Professor Hasan Firat Diker reported on the cleaning and restoration work carried out by the General Directorate of Foundations that they carried out an architectural visualization study of the underground structures of Hagia Sophia about 5 years ago.

Stating that they will begin the cleaning of the underground structures, where visualization studies are carried out, Dicker noted that “thus, the beauties of Hagia Sophia and archaeological findings, which have been neglected for centuries, will be presented to the public.”

Stating that there are underground structures around the Hagia Sophia, about a kilometer long, including tunnels, cellars and catacombs, Dicker said all the maintenance and cleaning work would take a year.

He pointed out that the sections under the closed courtyard are of the same date as Hagia Sophia, i.e. 1,500 years old, and that the catacomb area is considered older than the current construction.