Facebook
photo-1
photo-2
photo-3
place imageLearn more insights from Wanderboat AI
cultural
accessibility

The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque 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. The building is an example of Byzantine architecture.

Description

The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque 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. The building is an example of Byzantine architecture.

Plan your stay

hotel

Pet-friendly Hotels in Fatih

Find a cozy hotel nearby and make it a full experience.

hotel

Affordable Hotels in Fatih

Find a cozy hotel nearby and make it a full experience.

hotel

The Coolest Hotels You Haven't Heard Of (Yet)

Find a cozy hotel nearby and make it a full experience.

hotel

Trending Stays Worth the Hype in Fatih

Find a cozy hotel nearby and make it a full experience.

Posts

Things to do in Istanbul (save and share this post): 1. Visit the various houses of worship like Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque. Suleymaniye Camii, Ortakoy Mosque, Chora Church and the Camlica Mosque 2. Tour palaces like Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahce Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace 3. Climb the Galata Tower for amazing views of Istanbul. You can even enjoy a meal here at the restaurant on the top floor. 4. Take a cruise of the Bosphorus to see both the European and Asia side of Istanbul. 5. Visit the cities Bazaars, the Grand Bazaar where you can shop your heart out and the Spice Bazaar where you can eat your heart out. Don’t leave without trying a Turkish delight! 6. If you want to go shopping Istiklal is the place to do so. They have a wide range of stores including international chains like Zara. 7. See a Dervish show at Hodjapasha. 8. Walk across the Galata Bridge to see fisherman at work and then walk under it to taste their fresh catches. 9. Take a day trip to the Princes’ Islands. 10. Experience a Turkish Hammam. 11. Explore the neighborhood of Balet, enjoying the colorful building and have some traditional Turkish tea or my favorite Apple Tea. 12. Turkey has some amazing food so go on a food tour or take a cooking class. If you don’t do either just make sure not to leave without having a traditional Turkish breakfast! I recommend at least 5 days in Istanbul but you can easily spend a week or more exploring the city. Have you been to Istanbul? If not is it on your list? For those that have been what was your favorite thing to do? #istanbul #bucketlistadventures

thetravelingchildthetravelingchild
5.4K146

This is off the beaten path as it is too far to walk to, but I thought the trip was definitely worth it! We ended up using the BiTaksi app (kind of like Uber for Istanbul) to get a taxi ride there. See note about Bitaksi at the end of the review. This place has also been converted recently to an active mosque, but it was easy to get in and not crowded like what you’ll see at the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. You go there to see the very impressive mosaics. It’s crazy as they’ve been there for a LOOOOONG time. The saints are labeled, but in Latin, or maybe Greek. But I was able to make out Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I bought a book from a gift shop nearby so I can hopefully learn who else is in the mosaics. Bitaksi: you gotta be careful with taxis in Istanbul. I thought I was being careful by using the Bitaksi app, but we still got scammed. Our trip from our hotel to this site was great, and we used a second taxi to get to the Sulaymon Mosque. It was our third taxi that we took to Galata Tower that we got scammed on. The driver said the credit card machine through the Bitaksi app wasn’t working so he asked us to let him run our card in his machine he had with him. To do that, we had to change our payment method to “pay with cash” on the app. We should have insisted that if we were to say that, we’d pay with cash, but in addition to the language barrier, he was very insistent that he not take cash. I figured it was a weird legal thing maybe, but he had to run our card three times before it worked. I got a text message from my bank the second we got out of the taxi saying my card had been attempted twice for $300 (and declined both times). So he only ended up getting the appropriate fare amount of around $6, but I had to have my card canceled due to the fraud attempts.

Rosie JonesRosie Jones
00

The finest examples of Byzantine mosaics that have remained to the present day are the ones found in the Chora Church (Chora Monastery). This building was used for a time as a mosque and was known as the Kariye Camisi. Following the Second World War the building was repaired and restored and opened as a museum. The walls and the domes of this structure are ornamented with mosaics. These pictures are very alive and they portray the lives of Jesus and Mary, the death of Mary. The fresco of the Last Judgment belonging to this church is on exhibit at the Hagia Sophia. Many other examples of Byzantine architecture are still being used today. Some of these structures are the "Little" Hagia Sophia, The church of St. Irene, The Mescit of Sheik Suleyman, the Mescit of Sancaktar, the Pantocreator Monastery (Zeyrek Camii), the Monastery of Akaleptos (Kalanderhane Camii), the church of St. Tekla Atik. (Mustafapasa Camii), The church of St. Theodosia (Gul Camii), The church of the Myrelaion Monastery (Bodrum Camii) and the church of the Lips Monastery (Fenari Isa Camii). The church of St. Euphemia the Martyr was built in the fifth century AD and is a circular building standing in Sultanahmet Square. The most unique feature of this building is its very interesting frescos. One of these portrays the torture and death of Euphemia from Kadikoy who is believed to have been killed because of her religious beliefs. Most of the churches and monasteries of the Byzantine period were converted to mosques and this fact has actually helped these structure to survive for 1200-1500 years as they were thus kept in a state of repair.

Meander TravelMeander Travel
10

Первый Монастырь появился на этом месте ещё в VI-VII веках. И его название «Хора» означает «страна, земля, вместилище». Монастырь резко вырос в своём значении, когда в XI веке императорская семья переехала из Большого дворца во Влахернский, располагавшийся здесь же неподалеку. Высокопоставленные лица часто дожидались здесь приёма во дворец. Именно поэтому в 1315 г за восстановление храма взялся Феодор Метохит. Это человек с яркой судьбой. В 1290 г он был замечен императором Андроником II во время его поездки по империи. В результате Метохит попадает в Константинополь, начинает дипломатическую карьеру и становится логофетом (то есть, премьер-министром по-нашему). Естественно, деньги текут рекой, ещё и дочь выдал замуж за императорского племянника и стал самым влиятельным человеком в Империи. И вот этот деятельный товарищ затеял реконструкцию монастыря Хоры. Был переделан центральный купол, достроены оба нартекса (коридоры перед главным залом), ну и, что самое интересное для нас, были созданы прекрасные мозаики, посмотреть на которые и приходят теперь туристы со всего света. Реконструкция завершилась весной 1321 г. Так что все мозаики, которыми теперь мы любуемся, возрастом эдак так 700 лет. Не хило. При этом, не смотря на преклонный возраст, мозаики поражают своей красочностью и золотым сиянием. Конечно, Хора полна прекрасных мозаик. Прежде всего образ Христа Пантократора («Вседержителя») над центральным проходом во внутренний нартекс. Напротив него - Богоматерь Воплощение с образом Младенца Христа во чреве. И много-много других… но моя любимая - это такой себе рекламный плакат на память избирателям, так популярный у сегодняшний политиков - это мозаика, где коленопреклоненный Метохит преподносит вновь отреставрированный храм Хоры Христу (та мозаика, где мужик в турецком тюрбане и халате). В общем, умный был дядька, сохранил себя для потомков во всей красе. Рядом, кстати, есть ещё один интересный персонаж - монахиня Меланья, она же Мария Монгольская (с ней связана история церкви Марии Монгольской или Мухлиотисса (находится неподалеку отсюда в Фанере), единственного христианского храма Константинополя, который никогда не переставал им быть, так как после падения Константинополя гарантию от превращения церкви в мечеть отдал сам Мехмет Фатих (Завоеватель)). На момент изготовления мозаики в Хоре Меланье было уже за 60, она была очень влиятельной дамой своего времени… и очень богатой… так что денег на реконструкцию храма не жалела (по совместительству она была тёткой зятя Метохита), ну вот и получила в результате такую привилегию, как свой портрет на века. Кстати, Феодор Метохит закончил не очень хорошо. В 1328 г произошёл гос переворот. К власти пришел новый император - Андроник III. И Метохит из того, «кто всем казался самым богатым после императора, мгновенно сделался нищим». Экзонартекс Хоры посвящен Христу, а нартекс - Богородице. И изображения расположены так, что образ Христа всегда встречает входящего в храм, а образ Богоматери его провожает. Хотя теперь турки всё переделали шиворот-навыворот. И теперь Вы заходите не через главный вход, а через усыпальницу (Парэкклесий). Здесь уже не мозаики, а фрески… но тоже очень красиво. В Хоре обрели последний покой многие известные люди, среди которых и сам Метохит. После захвата османами Константинополя храм долгое время оставался христианским. Лишь в 1511 г в результате сильного землетрясения и разрушения большого количества мечетей вокруг, монастырь Хора был переделан в османскую мечеть Кахрие. В таком статусе он оставался до 1945 г. Потом стал музеем. Но в 2020 г, как и собор Святой Софии вновь был обращен в мечеть. Так что обязательно берите с собой соответсвующую одежду для входа в мечеть (бесплатно не дают, можно только получить за деньги) и по пятницам вход в мечеть только для мусульман на молитву. Но что самое интересное, в главном зале мечети, где сейчас совершают намаз мужчины, остались не закрытыми две мозаики, ранее располагавшиеся у алтаря - образ Христа и образ Богоматери. Вход для туристов - 20 евро, для граждан Турции и лиц с ВНЖ - бесплатно.

Olesia KuchynaOlesia Kuchyna
00

The Turkish word Kariye is derived from the ancient Greek word Chora meaning outside of the city (land). It is known that there was a chapel outside of the city before the 5th century when the city walls were erected. The first Chora Church was rebuilt by Justinianus (527-565) in place of this chapel. In the era of Komnenoi, it served as the court chapel for important religious ceremonies, thanks to its nearness to the Palace of Blachernae. Chora Church (Chora Kirke) was destroyed during the Latin invasion (1204-1261) and repaired in the reign of Andronikos II (1282-1328) by the Treasury Minister of the palace, Theodore Metochites (1313). It was expanded towards north, an exonarthex was added to its western side and a chapel (Parecclesion) to its southern side, and it was decorated with mosaics and frescoes. The mosaics and frescoes in the Chora are the most beautiful examples dating from the last period of the Byzantine painting (14th century). The characteristic stylistic elements in those mosaics and frescoes are the depth, the movements and plastic values of figures and the elongation of figures.

Erkan SylmzErkan Sylmz
10

Would get a five-star if the restoration is finished as planned. I have learned from the website that the work would be over by late-April 2019. I went there yesterday, mid-May, and a large section on the right side was still closed for the restoration job. This is disappointing. The audio guide, a smart phone with audio files for different sections of the museum, is for rent at 15 lira. The one-time ticket costs 45 lira. Altogether 60 for one facade section, one interior section, and one hall inside. I think this is quite pricey, considering the closed sections. Some signs for the corresponding audio files could not be found. Toilets need more regular cleaning. I went straight from the airport to the museum in order to spend time before the check-in time of my hotel. No deposit service for the baggage though. Already paid, the staff at the entrance said i could not take my suitcase with me inside either. They said that was forbidden. A few awkward moments! Only when i turned to the manager, i was allowed to take it with me inside. Not a nice experience.

Kunlaphak KongsuwannakulKunlaphak Kongsuwannakul
90
Get more from Wanderboat AI

Nearby Attractions

Ismail Aga Mosque

Ismail Aga Mosque

4.8
(3.7K)
Click for details
Coloured Houses of Balat

Coloured Houses of Balat

4.4
(2.5K)
Click for details
Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

4.8
(2.3K)
Click for details
Palace of the Porphyrogenitus

Palace of the Porphyrogenitus

4.5
(1.2K)
Click for details

Nearby Restaurants

Gold Balat Restaurant

Gold Balat Restaurant

4.9
(1.7K)
Click for details
New Balat Cafe Restaurant

New Balat Cafe Restaurant

4.8
(1.7K)
Click for details
Cafe Naftalin K

Cafe Naftalin K

4.4
(1.3K)
Click for details
Sopung Kore Fatih

Sopung Kore Fatih

4.3
(1.1K)
$$
Click for details

Overview

4.4(3.6K reviews)

Phone

+90 212 631 92 41

Call

Website

diyanet.gov.tr

Visit
banner

Deep Dive

A deep dive into Kariye Mosque