Istanbul Guide

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Western Districts KARIYE MUSEM (CHORA CHURCH) The nave and the narthexes feature very fine, multicoloured marble work. The marble door in the north axis of the nave is an imitation of the bronze-and-wood doors of the 6th century, and is one of the few surviving examples of its kind. Restoration Between 1948 and 1958, the church’s interior decoration was carefully restored under the auspices of the Byzantine Society of America. Plaster and whitewash that covered the mosaics and frescoes was removed and everything was cleaned. In 2013 a second major restoration commenced. This ongoing process is happen ing in stages, and involves closure of parts of the museum; first the nave and the two-storey annexes on the northern side of the building, followed by the inner narthex, and finally the outer narthex and parecclesion. As the parecclesion has the finest frescoes, it may not be worth visiting the church during the final stage. Despite signs clearly prohibiting the use of camera flashes in the museum, many visitors ignore this rule, endangering these wonderful mosaics and fres coes. Please don’t be one of them. Getting to the Museum The best way to get to this part of town is to catch the Haliç (Golden Horn) fer ry from Eminönü to Ayvansaray and walk up the hill along Dervişzade Sokak, turn right into Eğrikapı Mumhane Caddesi and then almost immediately left into Şişhane Caddesi. From here you can follow the remnants of Theodosius II’s land walls, passing the Palace of Constantine Porphyrogenitus on your way. From Hoca Çakır Caddesi, veer left into Vaiz Sokak just before you reach the steep stairs leading up to the ramparts of the wall, then turn sharp left into Kariye Sokak and you’ll come to the museum. Buses including 28 from Eminönü and 87 from Taksim stop near the museum at the Edirnekapı stop on Fevzi Paşa Caddesi. From Sultanahmet, you can also catch the tram to Aksaray followed by the metro to Topkapı-Ulubatlı and finally the tram again to Edirnekapı. adorning the dome, which show Mary and 12 attendant angels (item 65). The Last Judgement (item 56) strikingly depicts this scene from the Book of Revela tion in dazzling white with gilt accents, with the rolling up of heaven represented by a coiling motif surrounded by the choirs of heaven. Though no one knows for certain, it is thought that the frescoes were painted by the same masters who created the mosaics. Theirs is an extraordinary ac complishment, as the paintings, with their sophisticated use of perspective and exquisitely portrayed facial expressions, are reminiscent of those painted by the Italian master Giotto (c 1266–1337), the painter who more than any other ushered in the Italian Renaissance and who was painting at around the same time. The message behind the perspective is important: the objects at the back are as big as those at the front, because the artists were giving the impression that the picture ends in the viewer. Such artistic sophistication has led historians to speculate that the Byzantines would have started the Renaissance had the Ot tomans not taken İstanbul. Indeed, Byzantine artists who fled Constantinople to Europe did have some influence on Early Renaissance art. Marble