Chora Church, Kariye Mosque: The Many Lives of a Byzantine Masterpiece

In this installment of ‘Larger Than Life: Architecture Though the Ages,’ we visit an ancient church-turned mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.

At roughly 8,000 square feet, Istanbul's Kariye Mosque is smaller than other major Byzantine structures like Hagia Sophia, yet remarkable for its extraordinarily preserved art and architecture. The mosque follows a quincunx layout, a refined Byzantine arrangement of five dome components: a large central dome surrounded by four smaller domes or vaults, gracefully ordered in a cross shape within a square perimeter. RauL C7/Shutterstock

Fifteen centuries ago, Byzantine hands laid the foundations of a building that would outlast every empire that tried to claim it. The church originally stood just outside the city’s fortress walls, at the edge of ancient Constantinople. Built in 534 during Emperor Justinian’s reign, it owes its origins to the devout Saint Theodus, who commissioned the structure during one of Byzantium’s most ambitious eras of construction.

Today, the building is divided into three principal areas: the narthex, or entrance hall; the nave, which forms the main body of the church; and the parekklesion, a side chapel with a funerary function. Six domes crown the interior, each one drawing the eye upward into a world of ancient imagery. Its plan lacks the perfect geometric cohesion typical of earlier Byzantine churches, reflecting many alterations over the centuries. Through conquest and conversion, the structure endured continual transformation without losing its spiritual gravity, making it one of history’s most singular testaments to artistic patronage and human reinvention.