The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum welcomes its visitors with a “Ney Concert” every week during the month of Ramadan. In the museum, where nearly 300 works that shed light on the history of Hagia Sophia, a significant portion of which are presented for the first time, are exhibited and where the second ticket is 50 percent discounted during the month of Ramadan, a ney concert accompanies the unique history of Hagia Sophia.
The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, located in the Defter-i Hakani Nezareti building in Sultanahmet Square, the heart of Istanbul, brings together both the Byzantine and Ottoman periods of Hagia Sophia with impressive storytelling and technology. On Fridays during the month of Ramadan, the museum offers visitors a history and art experience accompanied by a reed flute concert by Neyzen Burak Malçok. The museum, which tells the 1700-year history of Hagia Sophia, also features nearly 300 works, most of which are exhibited for the first time, enriching this unique experience.
We wanted to deepen the historical experience of Hagia Sophia with the 'Ney Sound'
Eda Bildiricioğlu, CEO of Dem Museum, which established and operates the Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, said that the ney concert, which will continue until the end of Ramadan, has been appreciated by visitors. Bildiricioğlu: “The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum is not only a space that tells the story of a historical structure, but also an example of a new generation museum approach that offers its visitors an interactive, immersive and sensory experience. The ney is one of the deepest and most meaningful sounds of Anatolia. For this reason, we wanted to deepen the experience we offer to our local and foreign visitors with this fascinating instrument in our museum, where we convey the history of a structure like Hagia Sophia, which has hosted many different civilizations throughout history. We are waiting for everyone who is interested in history and culture to experience music and history together in our museum.”
Nearly 300 works are exhibited, most of which are presented for the first time.
The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, which aims to convey our cultural heritage to everyone from 7 to 70 and to make them love history with its campaigns for students and special days, also offers a 50 percent discount on second tickets during the month of Ramadan. While visitors to the museum travel to the 1700-year-old magnificent history of Hagia Sophia, in the works section, they can see the “Vakfiye” written by Fatih Sultan Mehmet, which determines the legal status of the Hagia Sophia-i Kebir Foundation and describes in detail how the foundation will be managed. Nearly 300 works can be seen in the museum, from the “Hagia Sophia Mosque Pulpit Banner” made from the “Ravza-i Mutahhara” cloth sent to the holy places in Mecca and Medina every year with the pilgrim convoy in the Ottoman Empire, to the “Bronze Medallion” that currently covers the face of the only Seraphim in the Hagia Sophia Mosque that is open.
Experience Museums made its name known to the world with 10 awards
The projects meticulously prepared by DEM Museums have been deemed worthy of 10 different awards worldwide in the last year. DEM Museums received seven of these awards with the Ephesus Experience Museum and three with the Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum. The news of awards, which started with the Ephesus Experience Museum being selected as the “Best Museum in the World” at the Mondo-Dr Awards ceremony held in the United States, continued to come one after another. The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum and the Ephesus Experience Museum were later crowned with awards from the MUSE Creative Awards, Arival Spotlight Awards, Vega Digital Awards, Event Technology Awards and Blooloop Innovation Awards throughout 2024. Stating that the awards were a great source of pride, Eda Bildiricioğlu said, “The awards both contributed to the promotion of our country and ensured that Dem Museums is more recognized in the international arena. We are now invited to sector events abroad as speakers. We took part in an important event in Barcelona in January and we are invited to France in April. “We will open up our cultural storytelling to the world by bringing new immersive experience museums to life in Europe.”
We started 2 new experience museum projects in Europe
“As Dem Museums, instead of just exhibiting spaces, we design them with an understanding that gives them spirit and meaning, and we create spaces that tell stories,” said Eda Bildiricioğlu, CEO of DEM Museums, indicating that they have started projects that will make a splash abroad. “In the last year, our museums have been deemed worthy of a total of 10 awards worldwide. The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum and the Ephesus Experience Museum have made our name known to the world while competing with international projects. We are working to implement experience design projects abroad in the near future. We have started two important European projects in Italy with an immersive project focusing on historical narration, which is our area of expertise, and in London with an immersive experience museum concept,” she said.
