Kariye is located at Edirnekapı section of İstanbul. The dictionary meaning of Kariye (Chora) is "outside of the city", or "rural" in old Greek. Chora mosaics and frescoes are the most beautiful examples of the last period of Byzantine art (the 14th century). They show a striking similarity. The monotonous background of the former period cannot be seen here. The concept of depth, recognition of the placticity and movement of the figures and the elongation in the figures are the characteristic of this style. The building was used as a church after the conquest of İstanbul but was converted into a mosque in 1511 by the Visier Grand Hadım Ali Pasha, who later added a school and a alm kitchen next to it. After the conversion, the mosaics and frescoes were covered, sometimes by wooden blinds and sometimes by whitewashing over them. All the mozaics and frescoes were uncovered with the work carried out by the American Institute of Byzantine Research in between 1948 - 1958.
