Turkey: Church of the Holy Savior in Chora converted into a mosque

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan transformed the Holy Savior Church in Chora, one of Istanbul’s most famous Byzantine buildings, into a mosque on Friday (August 21). It happened a month after the famous Hagia Sophia was opened for the Muslim cult.

From 1511 to 1945, the building – known in Turkish as Kariye – served as a mosque. Last year, a Turkish court overturned the government’s decision in 1945 to turn it into a museum.

On Friday, a decree signed by Erdogan announced that “the management of the Kariye mosque will be transferred to the Religion Directorate (Diyanetu) and it will be opened for worship.”

The Byzantine church in Chora was built near the ancient city walls of Constantinople and features 14th-century mosaics and frescoes depicting biblical scenes. They were covered with lime after the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, but saw the light of day again when the building was turned into a museum by the secular republic of Turkey over 70 years ago.

Friday’s Erdogan decree did not specify when the first Muslim prayers would be held in the former church or what arrangements would be made for Christian artwork, as under Muslim law there should be no images at the place of prayer. In Hagia Sophia, the images of Mary and Jesus are covered with curtains.

As with Hagia Sophia, Greece’s foreign ministry condemned the decision, claiming it was “a provocation to all believers.” “We are calling on Turkey to return to the 21st century and to mutual respect, dialogue and understanding between civilizations,” said the Greek ministry.

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