Istanbul, old church of St. Savior in Chora also converted to mosque

In Turkey there is another case similar to that of St. Sophia, the ancient Christian basilica converted into a mosque in July: today the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, signed a decree to turn an ancient Orthodox church (which until today was a museum), that of St. Savior in Chora, one of the most extraordinary Byzantine buildings in existence, into a mosque. The church is located in Istanbul and dates back to the fifth century A.D., although it was rebuilt as we see it today in several stages over the following centuries (it was remodeled until the fourteenth century, when it was decorated with mosaics and frescoes that are among the masterpieces produced in the Eastern Empire ruled by the Palaeologus dynasty). The church became a mosque in 1511, only to be turned into a museum (the Kariye Müzesi) in 1958, after a group of American scholars worked to have the mosaics restored: since then, for sixty-two years, St. Savior in Chora had remained, precisely, a museum.

For St. Savior in Chora, too, the process was the same as for St. Sophia: Turkey’s highest administrative court last year declared the building’s use as a museum to be illegitimate, and the Presidential decree today initiated the conversion.

The measure comes heedless of UNESCO’s tough stance against the transformation of the Hagia Sophia basilica into a mosque. The government thus decides to strike another symbol of secular Turkey and disregard the warnings coming from the United Nations’ highest organization for culture. St. Sophia has already reopened to Islamic worship at the end of July, while for St. Savior in Chora the idea is to have the first prayers there in September. In St. Sophia, in order to make the structure compatible with Muslim worship, it was finally decided to cover the mosaics and decorations with large sheets only during religious services, while when not praying tourists can see the works preserved in the ancient church. For St. Savior in Chora the solution will probably be the same.

Image: the church of St. Savior in Chora

Istanbul, old church of St. Savior in Chora also converted to mosque

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