Museum
Hagia Irene
Cankurtaran, Topkapı Sarayı No:1, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul
Early Byzantine church predating Hagia Sophia, repurposed as an Ottoman arsenal, now a concert hall.
This guide to Hagia Irene in Istanbul opens with Mehmed the Second's conquest of Constantinople in 1453, when he converted the great churches to mosques but made a different choice for this older one. It traces the building back to the fourth century, when it served as the city's first cathedral and hosted the Second Ecumenical Council, then to the earthquake of 740 and the iconoclast emperor who rebuilt its dome. Listen for the mosaic above you, a bare cross with no saints or Christ.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.