Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ated outside the original city walls built by Constantine the Great. Within a century the
church and the monastery complex in which it was located were engulfed by Byzantine
urban sprawl and enclosed within a new set of walls built by Emperor Theodosius II.
Around AD 500, the Emperor Anastasius and his court moved from the Great Palace of
Byzantium in Sultanahmet to the Palace of Blachernae, a new complex built close to the
point where Theodosius' land walls met the old sea walls on the Golden Horn. Its proxim-
ity 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 dur-
ing the Iconoclastic period (711-843) and reconstructed at least five times, most signific-
antly in the 11th, 12th and 14th centuries. Today, the Chora consists of five main architec-
tural units: the nave, the two-storied structure (annex) added to the north, the inner and the
outer narthexes, and the chapel for tombs (parecclesion) to the south.
Virtually all of the interior decoration - the famous mosaics and the less renowned but
equally striking frescos - dates from 1312 and was funded by Theodore Metochites. One
of the museum's most wonderful mosaics (item 48), found above the door to the nave in
the inner narthex, depicts Theodore offering the church to Christ.
Metochites also established a very large and rich library inside the monastery; unfortu-
nately, no traces of this or the other monastery buildings have survived.
The structure and environs of the church weren't the only thing to change over the
years - after centuries of use as a church, the building became a mosque during the reign
of Beyazıt II (1481-1512) and a museum in 1945.
Mosaics
Most of the interior is covered with mosaics depicting the lives of Christ and the Virgin
Mary. Look out for the
Khalke Jesus
(item 33), which shows Christ and Mary with two
donors - Prince Isaac Comnenos and Melane, daughter of Mikhael Palaiologos VIII. This
is under the right dome in the inner narthex. On the dome itself is a stunning depiction of
Jesus and his ancestors
(the
Genealogy of Christ
; item 27). On the narthex's left dome
is a serenely beautiful mosaic of
Mary and the Baby Jesus surrounded by her ancest-
ors
(item 34).
In the nave are three mosaics: of
Christ
(item 50c), of
Mary and the Baby Jesus
(item
50b) and of the
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin
(Assumption; item 50a) - turn around
to see this, as it's over the main door you just entered. The 'infant' being held by Jesus is
actually Mary's soul.
