Turkey has opened the ancient Chora church, one of Istanbul’s most celebrated Byzantine buildings, to Muslim worshippers after having been used as a museum for more than 70 years, reports The Arts Newspaper.
image for illustration: Chora Church, Instanbul by Gryffindor – Own work, Public Domain, Commons Wikimedia
The Arts Newspaper writes:
Turkey has reconsecrated a millennium-old former church as a mosque, shrugging off criticism from abroad that ending its neutral status as a World Heritage List-inscribed museum would harm cultural heritage, following… restoration…
The Church of St Saviour in Chora, often described as the Sistine Chapel of Istanbul, held its first Muslim prayers in nearly eight decades…
At Chora this week, a thin stream of tourists came to view sparkling mosaics, such as Christ in Majesty hovering from a dome, and the masterwork fresco Anastasis, or the Harrowing of Hell….
