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Kariye Camii

The former Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora (Outside the City)
 

The Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora (Turkish Kariye Camii) built outside the walls of Constantinople is considered to be one of the most beautiful surviving examples of a Byzantine church.  The church is situated in Istanbul, in the Edirnekapı neighbourhood, which is in the western  part of the municipality (belediye) of Fatih. In the 16th century, during the Ottoman era, the church was converted into a mosque and it became a museum in 1948. It re-opened as a mosque in February 2024. The interior of the building is covered with fine mosaics and frescoes. 
         
   General view of the
 area
 Street close by  External view towards
 the front entrance
 St Anne giving birth to
 the Virgin Mary
         
   Christ enthroned;
 Theodore Metochites
 presents a model of
 his church
 Koimesis in the Naos
 (Dormition of the Virgin)
   
         
       Saint Tarakhos  External
         
       King Herod ordering
 the deaths of all children
  under two
 Miracle at Cana
         
   Christ as “The Land of
 the Living”
 Angel appears to
 shepherds:
 
The Birth of Christ
   
         
     Enrollment for taxation  Journey to Bethlehem  Mary in the arms of
 Joachim and the
  blessing by the
  priests  c 1315
         
   Saint Andronikos  Theotokos
 Panayia and Child
 Central dome   Panayia (Virgin) with
  the  Christ Child as
 “The Dwelling-place
  of the Uncontainable”
         
   Joseph Receiving the
 Rod which Marks him
 as the favorite suitor
 Joseph Taking Leave
 of the Virgin
 Esonarthex Vault
 Mosaics
 Annunciation to St. Anne
  the mother of the
  Virgin Mary: St Joseph
         
         Koimesis in the Naos
         
   Christ  St. Prokopius and
 St. Sabah Stratelates
   
         
   The Church Fathers:
 Basil, Gregory the
 Theologian and Cyril of
 Alexandria c 1315
 in the  parekklesioni
    Anastasis
 (The Resurrection)
 
         
   Christ and twenty-four
 of the early ancestors
  c 1315
  South dome of the
  esonarthex
 Christ and Panayia  Virgin Mary and John the
  Baptist (absent here)
  interceding with Christ
 St Paul
         
     St Peter  Christ Pantocrator  External to the rear of
 the main entrance


Map from PlanetWare.com

Colour Photos © Iain Laird 2008-2021

Links:

Chora Museum

Kariye Müzesi 

3D Tour of the Kariye Museum

KARIYE MUSEUM | World Monuments Fund