Skip to content

Μονή της Χώρας - 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 became a museum in 1948. The interior of the building is covered with fine mosaics and frescoes. 

It re-opened as a mosque in February 2024.

moni tis choras 002
Christ Pantocrator
moni tis choras 011
Anastasis  (The Resurrection)
moni tis choras 049
St Anne giving birth to  the Virgin Mary
moni tis choras 027
Joseph Receiving the  Rod which Marks him  as the favorite suitor
moni tis choras 030
Enrollment for taxation
moni tis choras 029
 Journey to Bethlehem
moni tis choras 036
Angel appears to  Shepherds:  The Birth of Christ
moni tis choras 041
King Herod ordering  the deaths of all children under two
moni tis choras 028
Mary in the arms of  Joachim and the blessing by the priests c 1315
moni tis choras 018
Panayia (Virgin) with the Christ Child as  “The Dwelling-place of the Uncontainable”
moni tis choras 025
Theotokos  Panayia and Child
moni tis choras 039
Miracle at Cana
moni tis choras 048
Christ enthroned;  Theodore Metochites  presents a model of his church
moni tis choras 026
Joseph Taking Leave  of the Virgin
moni tis choras 023
Joseph Taking Leave  of the Virgin
moni tis choras 022
moni tis choras 021
moni tis choras 019
moni tis choras 017
Koimesis in the Naos
moni tis choras 008
moni tis choras 012
moni tis choras 007
Christ and twenty-four  of the early ancestors c 1315 South dome of the esonarthex
moni tis choras 006
Christ and Panayia
moni tis choras 005
Virgin Mary and John the Baptist (absent here) interceding with Christ
moni tis choras 016
Christ
moni tis choras 003
St Peter
moni tis choras 004
St Paul
moni tis choras 031
St Andronikos
moni tis choras 015
St. Prokopius and  St. Sabah Stratelates
moni tis choras 009
moni tis choras 033
Saint Tarakhos
moni tis choras 013
The Church Fathers:  Basil, Gregory the  Theologian and Cyril of  Alexandria c 1315  in the parekklesioni
moni tis choras 040
moni tis choras 037
moni tis choras 045
moni tis choras 035
moni tis choras 001
External to the rear of  the main entrance
olympus digital camera
407px hsx millingen 1912 fig 105
moni tis choras 051
Street close by
moni tis choras 050
External view towards  the front entrance
moni tis choras 052
General view of the  area
moni tis choras 020
Central dome
Colour Photos © Iain Laird 2008-2021