Chora Church

One of the most precious temples in Istanbul is the amazing Chora Church, with its frescoes preserved from the times of ancient Byzantium...

First reason

This is the most authentic church of all abundance of churches in Istanbul. During the Turkish conquest of the city many of its churches were redesigned into the mosques or simply closed; somewhere they just didn’t have enough funds for the reconstruction... But Istanbul Chora Church looks exactly like it was 500 or even 800 years ago.

Second reason

The uniqueness of this church is in its frescoes. They decorate the dome like lifelike pictures depicting scenes from the Bible. The Church of St. Savior in Chora has lots of them. It has a beautiful view, which opens from the church on the city. One of the most beautiful views of Istanbul...

Third reason

This temple, part of UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built... not in Constantinople. The fact is that in the 11 century when the church was built, this section of the Golden Horn was not among the features of the city. And processions from Constantinople spent a few hours to come here. Despite this, people came to this church, because it was very beautiful. Even after it was thoroughly "patted" by earthquake, the Byzantine emperors allocated considerable sums on the restoration of the Chora Church. By the way, it was built by the Emperor’s mother-in-law, Maria Dukaina.

Fourth reason

Those very murals were made by the Byzantine nobleman Metochites, formerly the largest educator of his time. He spent much time in the study of science and theology - it was a science no less important than mathematics - and wanted to be buried here.

Fifth reason

This is the only church of Constantinople - not counting the Cathedral of St. Sophia - which was transformed into a mosque, but then this mosque was closed. Turkish people are Muslims, and they are reluctant to close their temples even in the Byzantine churches.