chora church

Chora Church, Istanbul

The Chora Church (Turkish Kariye M�zesi, Kariye Camii, or Kariye

Kilisesi -- the Chora Museum, Mosque or Church) is considered to be

one of the most beautiful examples of a Byzantine church. The church

is situated in the western, Edirnekapi district of Istanbul. In the

16th century, the church was converted into a mosque by the Ottoman

rulers, and it became a secularised museum in 1948. The interior of

the building is covered with fine mosaics and frescoes.

The Chora Church was originally built outside the walls of

Constantinople, to the south of the Golden Horn. The church's full

name was the Church of the Holy Saviour in the Country. The last part

of that name, Chora, referring to its location originally outside of

the walls, became the shortened name of the church. The original

church on this site was built in the early 5th century, and stood

outside of the 4th century walls of Constantine the Great. However,

when Theodosius II built his impregnable land walls in 413-414, the

church became incorporated within the city's defences, but retained

the name Chora. The name must have caried symbolic meaning, as the

mosaics in the narthex describe Christ as the Land of the Living and

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as the Container of the Uncontainable.

The majority of the fabric of the current building, however, dates

from 1077-1081, when Maria Ducaena, the mother-in-law of Alexius I

Comnenus, rebuilt the Chora Church as an inscribed cross or quincunx:

a popular architectural style of the time. Early in the 12th century,

the church suffered a partial collapse, perhaps due to an earthquake.

The church was rebuilt by Isaac Comnenus, Alexius's third son.

However, it was only after the third phase of building, two centuries

after, that the church as it stands today was completed. The powerful

Byzantine statesman Theodore Metochites endowed the church with much

of its fine mosaics and frescos. Theodore's impressive decoration of

the interior was carried out between 1315 and 1321. The mosaic-work is

the finest example of the Palaeologus Renaissance. However much we

know of the benefactors, the artists remain unknown. In 1328, Theodore

was sent into exile by the usurper Andronicus III Palaeologus.

However, he was allowed to return to the city two years later, and

lived out the last two years of his life as a monk in his Chora

Church.

Around fifty years after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans

(in 1453), Atik Ali Pasa, the grand vizier of Sultan Bayezid II,

ordered the Chora Church be converted into a mosque -- Kariye Camii.

Due to the prohibition against images in Islam, the mosaics and

frescoes were covered behind a layer of plaster. This and frequent

earthquakes in the region have taken their toll on the artwork.

In 1948, Thomas Whittemore and Paul A. Underwood, from the Byzantine

Institute of America and the Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine

Studies, sponsored a programme of restoration. From that time on, the

building ceased to be a functioning mosque. In 1958, it was opened to

the public as a museum -- Kariye M�zesi.

Interior

The Chora Church is not as grand in stature as some of the other

Byzantine churches of Istanbul (it covers 742.5 m�), but what it lacks

in size, it makes up for in the exquisite beauty of its interior. The

building divides into three main areas: the entrance hall or narthex,

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.

Narthex

The main, west door of the Chora Church opens into the narthex. It

divides north-south into the exonarthex and esonarthex.

Exonarthex

The exonarthex is the first part of the church that one enters. It is

a transverse corridor, 4 m wide and 23 m long, which is partially open

on its eastern length into the parallel esonarthex. The southern end

of the exonarthex opens out through the esonarthex forming a western

ante-chamber to the parecclesion. The mosaics that decorate the

exonarthex include:

Joseph's dream and journey to Bethlehem;

Enrollment for taxation;

Nativity, birth of Christ;

Journey of the Magi;

Inquiry of King Herod;

Flight into Egypt;

Two frescoes of the massacres ordered by King Herod;

Mothers mourning for their children;

Flight of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist;

Joseph dreaming, return of the holy family from Egypt to Nazareth;

Christ taken to Jerusalem for the Passover;

John the Baptist bearing witness to Christ;

Miracle;

Three more Miracles.

Jesus Christ;

Virgin and Angels praying.

Esonarthex

The esonarthex is similar to the exonarthex, running parallel to it.

Like the exonarthex, the esonarthex is 4 m wide, but it is slightly

shorter, 18 m long. Its central, eastern door opens into the naos,

whilst another door, at the southern end of the esonarthex opens into

the rectangular ante-chamber of the parecclesion. At its northern end,

a door from the esonarthex leads into a broad west-east corridor that

runs along the northern side of the naos and into the prothesis. The

esonarthex has two domes. The smaller is above the entrance to the

norther corridor; the larger is midway between the entrances into the

naos and the pareclession.

Enthroned Christ with Theodore Metochites presenting a model of his

church;

Saint Peter;

Saint Paul;

Deesis, Christ and the Virgin Mary (without John the Baptist) with two

donors below;

Genealogy of Christ;

Religious and noble ancestors of Christ.

The mosaics in the first three bays of the inner narthex give an

account of the Virgin's birth and life. Some of them are as follows:

Rejection of Joachim's offerings;

Annunciation of Saint Anne, the angel of the Lord announcing to Anne

that her prayer for a child has been heard;

Meeting of Joachim and Anne;

Birth of the Virgin Mary;

First seven steps of the Virgin;

The Virgin given affection by her parents;

The Virgin blessed by the priests;

Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple;

The Virgin receiving bread from an Angel;

The Virgin receiving the skein of purple wool, as the priests decided

to have the attendant maidens weave a veil for the Temple;

Zechariah praying, when it was the time to marry for the Virgin, High

Priest Zechariah called all the widowers together and placed their

rods on the altar, praying for a sign showing to whom she should be

given;

The Virgin entrusted to Joseph;

Joseph taking the Virgin to his house;

Annunciation to the Virgin at the well;

Joseph leaving the Virgin, Joseph had to leave for six months on

business and when he returned the Virgin was pregnant and he is

suspicious of that.

Naos

The central doors of the esonarthex lead into the main body of the

church, the naos. The largest dome in the church (7.7 m diameter) is

above the centre of the naos. Two smaller domes flank the modest apse:

the northern dome is over the prothesis, which is linked by short

passage to the bema; the southern dome is over the diaconicon, which

is reached via the parecclesion.

Koimesis, the Dormition of the Virgin. Before ascending to Heaven, her

last sleep. Jesus is holding an infant, symbol of Mary's soul;

Jesus Christ;

Virgin Mary.

Parecclesion

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. The second largest dome (4.5 m diameter)

in the church graces the centre of the roof of the parecclesion. A

small passageway links the parecclesion directly into the naos, and

off this passage can be found a small oratory and a storeroom. The

parecclesion is covered in frescoes:

Anastasis, the Resurrection. Christ, who had just broken down the

gates of hell, is standing in the middle and trying to pull Adam and

Eve out of their tombs. Behind Adam stand John the Baptist, David, and

Solomon. Others are righteous kings;

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);

Virgin and Child;

Heavenly Court of Angels;