Chora The Byzantine jewel2

1. CHORA The Byzantine jewel 2

2. Chora or Kariye Museum, formally the Church of the Holy Saviour located in today's Fatih district in Istanbul The church of Chora is considered to be one of the most beautiful surviving examples of later Byzantine art. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Aug. 21 (2020) issued a decree to open this Orthodox church that was previously a popular Istanbul museum to Muslim worship upon a court order. The decision to transform the Kariye (Chora) Museum into a mosque came just a month after a similar conversion of the UNESCO World Heritage-recognized Hagia Sophia

3. Chora was constructed as a monastery in 534 during the Byzantine period. Around fifty years after the fall of the city to the Ottomans, Atık Ali Paşa, the Grand Vizier of Sultan Bayezid II, ordered the Chora Church to be converted into a mosque — Kariye Camii (1511). In 1958, it was opened to the public as a museum — Kariye Müzesi but in 2020 it is being converted to a mosque

5. Chora was one of the first churches to be looted when the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453. Apparently the icon of the Virgin Hodegetria, which was stored to Chora in 1453, was cut into pieces by Ottoman soldiers who entered the city through the Gate of Adrianople. The building divides into four main areas: the entrance hall or narthex (the inner & outer narthexes), the main body of the church or naos, and the side chapel or parecclesion. The building has six domes: two in the esonarthex, one in the parecclesion and three in the naos. The Chora Church is not as large as some of the other surviving Byzantine churches of Istanbul (it covers 742.5 m²) but it is unique among them, because of its almost completely still extant internal decoration. Very little remains of the mosaics which once decorated the naos, only the Koimesis (death of the Virgin) and figures of Christ and the Virgin. The naos is famous for its marble ornaments which include marble walls and floors and the onyx, red and porphyry columns that came from different places of the world

6. The outer narthex and the naos

7. The nave

9. The nave beautiful multi-colored marble on the floor

11. The nave

12. During the Comneni period (1081-1185), since the Great Palace was abandoned and the religious ceremonies were held in the Chora Monastery Church that was close to the new imperial residence at the Palace of Blachernae, the church gained in importance Marble panels on the walls

14. It is impossible to overstate the architectural importance of revetments. Indeed, the grandest of all churches, Hagia Sophia, was originally built with no iconography. The vaults bore mosaic designs in gold and azure depicting stars and crosses. But the walls were wholly clad in the most magnificent marbles in the world, brought from all corners of the Roman Empire, and it was principally these marbles that expressed the beauty of the Kingdom of God Marble revetments, meaning the decorative marble paneling that clads the lower walls of a Byzantine church. In the grander Byzantine churches, the marbles covered most of the interior surface, dominating the visual experience of the church far more than the iconography.

15. Hypothetical reconstruction of the marble door

16. Chora or Kariye Museum, formally the Church of the Holy Saviour Nave and its apse Mosaics of Christ and the Virgin Mary  

17. The mosaic of Jesus Christ is at the north side of the templon panel of the bema standing in full profile holding the Book of Gospels, open to Matthew 11:28

18. The south side of the templon panel of the bema depicts the Virgin Hodegetria (Greek: one who shows the way) holding the Child Christ. Virgin Mary is standing on a terrace, her head is slightly tilted to Child Christ on her arms, and she is looking thoughtful

19. The upper part of the templon panel depicting the Virgin Hodegetria

20. The nave and its apse Mosaics of Christ and the Virgin Mary  

21. Dome of the nave

22. In naos, the mosaic panel above the main entrance, describing the death of Mary, is a masterpiece. Dormition of Theotokos depicts the death of the Virgin lying stretched out on a funeral bier, surrounded by apostles

23. Koimesis (Dormition of the Virgin) Door lintel with birds, vases and fruit baskets (6th century) The 'infant' being held by Jesus is actually Mary's soul

24. To the right of the esonarthex, doors open into the side chapel, or parecclesion. The parecclesion was used as a mortuary chapel for family burials and memorials

25. The parakklesion is decorated with astonishing frescos dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and, because this was a funeral chapel, themes of resurrection and salvation

26. Second coming of Christ, the last judgment Jesus is enthroned and on both sides the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist (this trio is also called the Deesis);

27. the last judgment detail

28. A detail of the Last Judgement fresco in the parecclesion of the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora From Isaiah 34:4: "All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll .“

29. Tomb of Michael Tornikes and his wife

31. Detail Tomb of Michael Tornikes Possibly the Tomb of Theodore Metochites

32. The second largest dome (4.5 m diameter) in the church graces the centre of the roof of the parecclesion Virgin and Child with Angels in Parekklesion's dome of Chora

33. Virgin and Child with Angels in Parekklesion's dome of Chora

35. Angels in Parekklesion's dome of Chora

36. Anastasis scene in Parekklesion Chora Church (Harrowing of hell) Church Fathers

37. Anastasis scene in Parekklesion Chora Church (Harrowing of hell)

38. Meaning ‘’standing up again’’ in Greek, Anastasis is one of the finest example of frescoes in the world. It is located in the semi-dome of the apse. The fresco symbolizes a physical resurrection of humankind

39. The doors of hell is broken down under the feet of Christ. The locks, nails and chains are scattered around Satan whose hands, feet and neck are tied up

40. Anastasis scene in Parekklesion Chora Church In the center, Christ is depicted in a three layered mandorla – symbolizing trinity. In each layer, there are eight pointed stars

41. Anastasis scene in Parekklesion Chora Church Christ in a three layered mandorla

42. Christ grabs the wrists of Adam & Eve by pulling them out of their sarcophagi

43. Behind Adam stand John the Baptist, David, and Solomon. Others are righteous kings;

44. Anastasis scene in Parekklesion Chora Church Christ grabs the wrists of Adam & Eve by pulling them out of their sarcophagi Eve is wearing red clothes

45. Anastasis scene in Parekklesion Chora Church Inside Eve’s sarcophagus, Abel-her son is also standing

46. Frescoes in Parekklesion Chora Church Abel is followed by a group on the right of Christ

47. It was the Byzantine statesman Theodore Metochites who endowed the church with many of its stunning frescoes and mosaics, which were added between 1315 and 1321. Due to the prohibition of iconic images in Islam, the church’s frescoes were covered under a layer of plaster and this (as well as frequent earthquakes) took their toll on the beautiful artworks. When Thomas Whittemore and Paul A. Underwood from the Byzantine Institute of America and the Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, sponsored a restoration project, Chora was no longer used as a mosque, and by 1958, opened as a museum to the public

48. Frescoes in Parekklesion Chora Church Church Fathers