After Hagia Sophia, Turkey’s Historic Chora Church Also Switched to Mosque amid Islamization of culture

Weeks after the conversion of Hagia Sophia Church into a mosque, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reconverted the historic 4th century Chora church, one of Istanbul’s most celebrated Byzantine buildings, into a mosque on Friday,

The Holy Saviour in Chora was comprehensively rebuilt around 1077-81 and again after a partial collapse following an earthquake early in the 12th century, reports Hurriyet Daiily News.

The iconic site was a medieval Byzantine church decorated with 14th-century frescoes of the Last Judgement that remain treasured in the Christian world.

It was originally converted into the Kariye Mosque half a century after the 1453 conquest of Istanbul by the Ottoman Empire.

It became the Kariye museum after World War II, and a group of American art historians then helped restore the original church’s mosaics and opened them up for public display in 1958.

However, in recent months, the Turkish State Council ruled that the status of the two monuments can change, and then reconverted them into mosques.

The first Friday prayers at the Hagia Sophia was held on July 24 after several decades.