Times readers’ underrated destinations of the world – Kariye Museum, Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is long known as a city endowed with layer upon layer of cultural riches dating from ancient times. But beyond the obvious sites...
Chora Church Istanbul

St. Savior in Chora (Kariye Müzesi; formerly the Kariye Camii)

Much of what remained in the coffers of the Byzantine Empire was invested in the embellishment of this church, one of the finest preserved...
The Art of the Kariye Camii

Drama in the Round

The dramatic mosaics and frescoes of Istanbul’s Kariye Camii, or Church of the Chora, blew away the stiff conventions of Byzantine art. Their energy...

Chora Church (Kariye Museum)

The Kariye Museum (Church of the Holy Savior in Chora, Chora Church) has the best Byzantine mosaics in the region. If you can spare...
Church of Sts. Sergius Bacchus

From church to mosque: Istanbul’s forgotten Byzantine heritage

Is it a church? Is it a mosque? Is it a museum? Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia, the Church of Divine Wisdom) may be one...