Thread by @TurkishFacade

I am thinking of all the museumified former Byzantine churches converted into Ottoman mosques that were opened as functioning mosques over the last decade —Hagia Sophias of Nicaea, Trabizond, Vize, Istanbul— & #Chora/#Kariye's physical transformation will be the trickiest of all.

Church of St. Savior at #Chora is covered, almost everywhere, in brilliant and exquisite mosaics as well as frescoes with figural decorations. It is the most embellished of all the above mentioned church/mosque/museums.

#Chora/#Kariye was part of a monastic complex, thus it is a much smaller structure with a complicated architectural layout. Unlike Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, it lacks the massive communal prayer space, instead has smaller chapels.

Smaller prayer halls and the abundance of figural decoration will make it very difficult to come up with a scheme to cover the mosaics&frescos without harming them.

Overall, very worrying development from the perspective of heritage protection, among other things...