Before our visit to Chora Church we took a drive by Taksim Square. It was a large city park, quiet and restful. We snapped a few shots from the bus window. Take a good look since the prime minister still plans to replace it with a shopping mall.
We also saw the old city walls, where squatters have appropriated areas for gardens.
“Chora” Church is derived from the Greek word for
countryside. The church, originally part
of a Byzantine monastery, was built in the 8th century. It was used as a mosque after 1553, until 1948
when it was secularized for use as a museum.
At that time all traces of its use as a mosque were removed and it looks
as it did as a Byzantine church.
In the chamber alongside the main church, frescoes cover the
ceilings and upper walls. The church
itself is covered with mosaics depicting scenes from the life of Christ. Some of the stories are unfamiliar to
westerners, such as the spider who protected Mary and Jesus from discovery by
Roman soldiers, by spinning a web across the mouth of the cave in which they
were hiding. Yesim explained that some
of the stories are from writings not part of the western bible.
The church is not large, but the intricacies of the mosaics
are a glimpse of what Hagia Sophia must have looked like before its decorations
were damaged by time and reuse as a mosque.
After our visit we had lunch directly next door at
Aristane. The food during our tour was
very, very good, and this was one of the very best meals we enjoyed.
Our tour was drawing to a close, so we took this opportunity to saw farewell to Birpoil, our driver. Yesim translated our good wishes.
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