Istanbul Guide

KARIYE MUSEUM (CHORA CHURCH)

INTS VIKMANIS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

DON’T MISS ¨ ¨ Khalke Jesus ¨ ¨ The Genealogy of Christ ¨ ¨ Mary and the Baby Jesus ¨ ¨ Frescoes in the parecclesion PRACTICALITIES ¨ ¨ Kariye Müzesi ¨ ¨ Map p172, A3; p254 ¨ ¨ % 0212-631 9241 ¨ ¨ www.choramuseum. com ¨ ¨ Kariye Camii Sokak 18, Edirnekapı ¨ ¨ adult/child ₺30/free ¨ ¨ h 9am-7pm mid-Apr– late Oct, to 5pm late Oct– mid-Apr, last entry 30min before closing ¨ ¨ g 28 from Eminönü, 87 from Taksim, f Ayvansaray

İstanbul has more than its fair share of Byzantine monuments, but few are as drop-dead gorgeous as this mosaic-laden church. Nestled in the shadow of Theodosius II’s monumental land walls and now a museum overseen by the curators of Aya Sofya, it receives a fraction of the visitor numbers that its big sister attracts but offers an equally fascinating The building was originally known as the Church of the Holy Saviour Outside the Walls (Chora literally means ‘country’ and Kariye is the Turkish version of the ancient Greek word Khora, which means the same thing), reflect ing its original location outside the city walls built by Constantine the Great. Within a century, the church and the monastery complex in which it was located were en gulfed by Byzantine urban sprawl and enclosed within a new set of walls built by Emperor Theodosius II. Around AD 500, Emperor Anastasius and his court moved from the Great Palace of Byzantium in Sultanahmet to the Pal ace of Blachernae, a new complex built close to the point where Theodosius’ land walls met the old sea walls on the Golden Horn. Its proximity to the Chora Monastery led to the monastery expanding and being rebuilt in 536 during the rule of Justinian. What you see today isn’t Justinian’s church, though. That building was destroyed during the Iconoclastic pe riod (711–843) and reconstructed at least five times, most significantly in the 11th, 12th and 14th centuries. Today the insight into Byzantine art. Origins of the Church