Gli, who has lived almost all her life in Hagia Sophia, has become an icon for tourists who visit this place. In 2009, she became famous when Obama stroked her.
There is someone who has also been a hot topic these days because of the reopening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque. We are talking about Gli, the cat that for 13 years has been living in this historic building, and that has already become an inseparable part of it and one more attraction for tourists.
After the decision that Hagia Sophia would start operating as a mosque after 86 years as a museum, the future of Gli -whose name means “Union of Love”- began to be debated, despite the fact that in many mosques there are already cats living; in fact, cat is a very appreciated animal in Islam, for being a symbol of cleanliness and for the love that Muhammad had for animals, but especially for cats.
The debate has however come to an end after Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya shared a photo in company of Gli in Hagia Sophia just hours before the reopening of this historic Byzantine building as a mosque. “Gli is very happy with her life, don’t worry,” the governor wrote in a message on Twitter, sharing a photo of the cat on the rugs that now decorate the floor of Hagia Sophia.
Although Gli, born in 2004, has lived almost all her life in Hagia Sophia, she became especially famous when Obama, as president, years ago visited the building in 2009 in company with then Prime Minister Erdoğan and caressed her in public, an image that was captured by photographers. Since then many tourists seek her company to take selfies with her, although Gli has also become a professional “posing” for photos.
In fact Gli -whose original name, given to her by one of the restorers of Hagia Sophia, was Gri (Gray, in Turkish), but she soon became Gli due to her tenderness- is not the only one who lives in Hagia Sophia; her sister Kızım also lives there, but she is not as popular as Gli, who even has her own Instagram account. “She really likes to pose,” says Umut Bahçeci, a tourist guide who is responsible for managing the Instagram account of this very special cat.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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