Istanbul-Visiting Chora Church and to Topkapi Palace
We rode thru a lot of traffic. I must confess that my sense of direction was a bit skewed this morning and I was not sure how far we traveled. I did note when Mehmet said that we were outside the original Constantinian wall. This makes good sense now because we were going to the Byzantine Church of St. Savior in Chora, “in Chora” means “in the country.”
My pictures do not do the mosaics and frescoes justice. They are stunning. St. Savior has the finest Byzantine mosaics and frescoes that can be found. This is must stop when visiting Istanbul.
The mosaics and frescoes depict the genealogy of Christ, the life of the Virgin, the infancy of Christ, Christ’s ministry and other frescoes.
The present church building dates from the 11th century. It was remodeled between 1315-1321. Today it is a museum.
The neighborhood around the church is picturesque.
We loaded the bus and headed across town to the Topkapi Palace. Wow.
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