The Re-Conversion of the Chora Museum into a Mosque

The former Byzantine Church of St. Savior in Chora, located in Istanbul, was converted into a Mosque by decree of Turkish President Erdogan on Aug. 21, 2020.  The church was originally built in the 6th century during the reign of Emperor Justinian.  The present structure dates from the late 11th century and has since undergone numerous transformations & renovations.  The church houses magnificent examples of Byzantine & Christian art with world-renowned mosaics & frescoes created between 1315 & 1321.  In 1511, the Ottoman Turks converted the church into a Mosque and it remained as such until 1948 when it was turned into a museum, where it remained as such for 72 years.

For the next four years the site underwent extensive restoration.  The mosaics & paintings have been covered with curtains in the areas designated for Islamic worship.  From this point forward, those who come for prayer and those who come for visits are segregated, and its possible that soon tourists will be required to pay a significant fee to visit, as they must now do if they visit the Hagia Sophia.  Many Muslim Turks approve of the re-conversion of the museum into a Mosque with one Turkish worshipper stating: "Our ancestors conquered this city, turned this building into a mosque.  So, it must remain as a mosque."  The conversion of Christian churches & other non-Islamic Holy Sites into mosques by conquering Jihadists is a practice that has been ongoing since the foundation of Islam.  The action symbolizes the Islamic conquest of the region and shows Muslims & non-Muslims alike that Islam now reigns supreme.  

People Visiting the Site on it's Official Reopening on May 6th, 2024

However, while some see the usage of the site as both a mosque & museum as an acceptable compromise, others feel that Turkey is using this as a step to gradually erase the history of Christianity from the region.  In the aftermath of the 1915 Armenian Genocide many churches were either destroyed or forcibly converted into mosques while the majority of the indigenous Christian population was either slaughtered for forced to flee.  Some see this as continuation of the effort launched in 1915 to eradicate all Christian presence in Turkey.  The nation of Greece, which had witnessed its Greek population slaughtered or expelled during the 1915 Genocide, has been one of the most vocal critics of this recent move by Turkey.  Many in the nation see it as rubbing salt on the wounds of the atrocity that befell their people over 100 years ago.  


Sources:

Buyuk, Hamdi Farat & Eleni Stamatoukou.  "Greece Slams Turkey for Reopening Former Orthodox Church as Mosque."  Balkan Insight.  May 07, 2024.  Accessed from https://balkaninsight.com/2024/05/07/greece-slams-turkey-for-reopening-former-orthodox-church-as-mosque/

Inanc, Yusef Selman.  "Turkey: Chora Church, Turned Mosque then Museum, is a Mosque Again."  Middle East Eye.  May 15, 2024.  Accessed from https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-chora-church-turned-mosque-museum.

Ritzmann, Nathalie.  Byzantine Church Converted to a Mosque in Istanbul, Reopened by Erodagn.  Coptic Solidarity.  May 11, 2024.  Accessed from https://www.copticsolidarity.org/2024/05/11/byzantine-church-converted-to-a-mosque-in-istanbul-reopened-by-erdogan/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=90e2064c-c0ce-4fd1-90e4-312e08c738dc



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