Chora Church

Kariye Mosque
Greek: Μονή της Χώρας Turkish: Kariye Camii
Exterior rear view
Religion
Affiliation	Greek Orthodox Church (before 1500), Sunni Islam (1500–1945, 2020–present), Directorate of Religious Affairs of Turkey (1924–1945, 2020–present)
Status	Mosque (since 2020)
Location
Location	Istanbul, Turkey
Location within the Fatih district of Istanbul
Geographic coordinates	41°01′52″N 28°56′21″E / 41.03122°N 28.93903°E / 41.03122; 28.93903
Architecture
Type	Church
Style	Byzantine architecture, Ottoman architecture, Islamic
Minaret(s)	2

The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque (Turkish: Kariye Camii) is a former church, now converted to a mosque (for the second time), in the Edirnekapı neighborhood of Fatih district, Istanbul, Turkey. It is mainly famous for its outstanding Late Byzantine mosaics and frescos.

The building is an example of Byzantine architecture. In the 16th century, during the Ottoman era, it was converted into a mosque; it became a museum in 1945, and was turned back into a mosque in 2020 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.^[1][2] The interior of the building is covered with some of the finest surviving Byzantine Christian mosaics and frescoes, which were left in plain sight during Muslim worship throughout much of the Ottoman era.^[3] They were restored after the building was secularized and turned into a museum.

The neighborhood is situated in the western part of the municipality of Fatih district.