Hagia Sophia: 10 Details Most Visitors Walk Right Past

After hundreds of visits, Hagia Sophia still surprises me. Here are the details I always point out — and that most visitors walk right past.

The Viking graffiti

On the marble parapet of the south gallery, a 9th-century Viking mercenary named Halvdan carved his name. Imagine a Norse guard, bored during a service, leaving a runic "Halvdan was here" — it's still legible today.

The wishing column

Near the northwest exit stands a column with a worn copper-clad hole. Legend says if you put your thumb in and rotate your hand a full circle, your wish comes true. The groove worn by a thousand years of thumbs is real, whatever you believe about the wish.

The marble door

In the south gallery, a solid marble door once separated meeting rooms of church synods. Its panels are carved to imitate wooden doors — stone pretending to be timber, sixth-century style.

There are seven more where these came from — join my Classic Old City Tour and I'll show you every one.