Hagia Irene is the only church which survived from Byzantine times with a galleried atrium. However the most important characteristics of the church for the music lovers, especially classical music lovers, are its dazzling atmosphere and fascinating acoustics which makes the concerts performed here a unique musical experience.
Constantinus the Great built Hagia Irene on a Roman Temple built in 330s while he was reestablishing the old Byzantine under the name of New Rome, building a forum, a palace and a hippodrome for his name.
Until the completion of Hagia Sophia in 537, Hagia Irene was the Patriarchate church of the city. It is believed that with Hagia Sophia in 381, Hagia Irene hosted the Second Ecumenical Concil which was the First Istanbul Council.
This first wooden Hagia Irene was burnt with Hagia Sophia in the Nika Riot in 532. Iustianius rebuilt both churches. After it was burnt again in 564, also suffered from the earthquake of 738 and after the restoration took the form it has today.
After the conquest of Istanbul by Mehmed II the Conqueror, Hagia Irene remained in the walls surrounding the Topkapı Palace. Because it was not transformed into a mosque, it did not experience any significant change but it was used for trophy storage and as an armory.
In the 19th century, the old artifacts and historical weaponry which were sent from the various parts of the Ottoman Empire were collected as two collections in Hagia Irene, and Hagia Irene became the base of the Turkish museology under the name of Imperial Museum. The pieces were transferred to the Tiled Pavilion in 1875 due to space inadequacy. Hagia Irene was used as the Military Museum until 1949. Later, it was restored and assigned to the Management of Hagia Sophia Museum.
Hagia Irene hosted many art activities since 1973, especially classical music concerts. Since 1980, many of the concerts during the Istanbul International Music Festival take place here.
Entering this place to see its perfect acoustic only once is enough to appreciate the music taste of the ones who first thought to open Hagia Irene to concerts rather than to worship or as a museum!
Address: Topkapı Sarayı 1. Avlu, Sultanahmet
Visit: The museum is closed for visitors but only can be visited by the permission of the Management of Hagia Sophia Museum
