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Chora monastery, dedicated to Christ and the Virgin tes Choras (lit. dwelling place), was drastically restored by the statesman and poet Theodore Metochites, who was recognised as its second founder, between 1316 and 1321. Maria Doukaina, mother-in-law of Alexios I and her grandson Isaac Komnenos renovated in the 11th and 12th c. respectively an early Christian monastery- according to a legendary tradition Chora monastery was founded in the 6th c. and played a key role in Iconoclasm- which consisted of a cross-in-square domed basilica in recessed-brick masonry, a narthex and side-chapels. Metochites restoration included the rebuilding of the dome, the replacement of the narthexes and the parekklesion and their decoration with lavish mosaics and frescoes of the cycle of the Life of Christ and of the Virgin. The south-chapel decorated with a resplendent fresco cycle full of Resurrection metaphors, served as a mortuary chapel with burial places provided in niches beneath delicately carved arches. The church was transformed into a mosque by Sultan Bayezid II- a minaret must have replaced a belfry in the southwest corner. |
