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Gli

Gli at the Hagia Sophia in 2013
Species	Cat (Felis catus)
Sex	Female
Born	c. 2004 Hagia Sophia, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey
Died	7 November 2020 (aged 16) Levent, Istanbul, Turkey
Resting place	Hagia Sophia
Known for	Living in the Hagia Sophia
Owners	Hagia Sophia's inventory (June–November 2020)
Parent	Sofya
Offspring	Karakiz

Gli (c. 2004 – 7 November 2020)^[1][2] was a cat from Istanbul best known for living in the Hagia Sophia, for which she became an Internet celebrity, grabbing the attention of visiting tourists. Gli was born in 2004 and was raised at the Hagia Sophia. She gained significant media attention when the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque in 2020.

Gli died on 7 November 2020 at a veterinary clinic in Levent, Istanbul. It was announced that she would be buried on the premises of the Hagia Sophia. The Instagram account @hagiasophiacat was dedicated to Gli and was followed by more than 118,000 people at the time of her death.

Gli was born at the Hagia Sophia in 2004. A kitten of Sofya, she had two siblings, Pati and Kızım. Gli had only one offspring, a jet-black cat aptly named Karakız ("Black Girl").^[3] Gli was loved by the tourists who visited the Hagia Sophia, which was a museum at the time, and she became a symbol of the Hagia Sophia. Gli first became popular when Barack Obama visited the Hagia Sophia in 2009; he and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan petted Gli. After it was announced that the Hagia Sophia would be converted into a mosque, Gli was posted all over social media and mentioned often in the news, receiving a new wave of fame. Presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın stated: "That cat has become very famous, and there are others who haven't become that famous yet. That cat will be there, and all cats are welcome to our mosques."^[4]

Gli died on 7 November 2020 at a veterinary clinic in Levent, where she had been receiving treatment since 24 September. She was buried in the garden of the Hagia Sophia.^[2]

• Feral cats in Istanbul
• List of individual cats

• Geddo, Benedetta. "Did you know Istanbul's Hagia Sophia has a resident cat?". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
• "Ayasofya'nın bekçisi kedi Gli" (in Turkish). NTV. 24 July 2020. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
• Karaburç, Harun (28 January 2018). "Ayasofya'nın kraliçesiyim" (in Turkish). Yeni Şafak. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
• "Ayasofya'nın maskotu Gli" (in Turkish). Milliyet. 27 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gli (cat).

• Gli on Instagram