The church of Our Saviour in Chora is a gem: the mosaics are wonderful, as works of later Byzantine art, besides being theologically interesting (bring a good guide book: the Blue Guide has several pages on this church alone). The same goes for the frescoes: part of the church has frescoes, no mosaics. The fresco of Christ and the Harrowing... more

T.he architecture is impressive outside but the mosaics inside are just breathtaking. The 10turkish lira guidebook is very helpful because it gives a plan to follow as the mosaics are not in an obvious biblical order. The cats in the garden are more numerous than anywhere else. A taxi is a good idea because its a bit difficult to find.... more

The church is quite lovely, with a sweet but small garden, and several cafes across the street, but otherwise hidden and surrounded by working class apartment buildings. It's like a little spot of beauty hidden away. Of course the mosaics are wonderful, although not all of them are restored. The main area is empty and haunting, and if you can... more

If you love mosaics go here .... and if you don't, you might give it a miss. I feel I might be a bit out of step with the other rave reviews in this section, but the location away from the other sites, and the relative cost ,15TL, (10US$) leads me to believe that if you have limited time or... more

A gem of a place to visit, the Chora Church is jam-packed with gorgeous mosaics of which some are very unusual. One of the transcepts is entirely devoted to the Virgin Mary with unusual scenes of her life. While there are amazing mosaics in the Hagia Sophia, the Chora Church is very small and intimate. From its simple exterior, one... more

Hagia Sophia will wet your appetite for mosaics, but Kariye will satisfy your hunger. How's that for a cheesy description? Seriously, this is a fabulous church and reminded me of walking into Florentine churches and being blown away by the frescoes. more

It was well worth a long cab ride to go to the Chora Church. The mosaics are a must see if you go to Istanbul. The detail and the colors cannot be described. I'm not in to churches but I am so glad I went to see this one. the building is now a museum and each mosaic is better... more

I had a wonderful time on the tour and our guide, Abdurrahman Yaramis from Backpackers Travel was more than we could have ever asked for- he is very intelligent, charming, professional, informative, and has very good English. The tour was around the old city/Sultanahmet in Istanbul and we saw 7 sites all together; sites more difficult to get to than... more

The Chora Church/Kariye Muzesi is located along the Theodosian Walls, separated from the remainder of the tourist destinations in Istanbul. We took a bus (90 I believe) from Eminonu towards Edirnekapi. The stop for the Chora Church is right after the soccer stadium on the right hand side of the bus, about 10 blocks or so past the Fatih Camii.... more