The Chora
The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque (Turkish: Kariye Camii) is a medieval Greek Orthodox church building, mostly used as a mosque since the 16th century, in the Edirnekapı neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey. It is mainly famous for its outstanding Late Byzantine mosaics and frescos.
| Kariye Mosque | |
|---|---|
Exterior rear view | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Greek Orthodox Church (before 1500), Sunni Islam (1500–1945, 2020–present), Directorate of Religious Affairs of Turkey (1924–1945, 2020–present) |
| Status | Mosque |
| Location | |
| Location | Istanbul, Turkey |
Location within the Fatih district of Istanbul | |
| Geographic coordinates | 41°01′52″N 28°56′21″E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Church |
| Style | Byzantine architecture, Ottoman architecture, Islamic |
| Minaret(s) | 2 |
The building is an example of Byzantine architecture. In the 16th century, during the Ottoman era, it was converted into a mosque; it became a museum in 1945, and was turned back into a mosque in 2020 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The interior of the building is covered with some of the finest surviving Byzantine Christian mosaics and frescoes, which were left in plain sight during Muslim worship throughout much of the Ottoman era. They were restored after the building was secularized and turned into a museum.
The neighborhood is situated in the western part of the municipality of Fatih district.