|
A view of Bishop figures on the apse wall in Chora Museum, Karagümrük Neighborhood of Fatih District, Şehr-i Istanbul Turkey (Turkish: Aziz Piskoposos figürlerinin Kariye Müzesi apsis duvarında bir görüntüsü, Kariye Müzesi ve Camii içi, Karagümrük Semti Fatih İlçesi, Şehr-i İstanbul Türkiye). The Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora (Turkish literally Kariye Müzesi, Kariye Camii or Kariye Kilisesi — the Chora Museum, Mosque or Church) is considered to be one of the most beautiful surviving examples of a Byzantine church. The interior of the building is covered with the world's richest and finest mosaics and frescoes.
The bishop figures on the apse wall (the apse determining the eastern ends of churches are the most important places of religious buildings in terms of liturgy and church symbolism) are of human size and they are ordered according to their importance. The names of those saints in bishop dresses are inscribed next to their heads and they are holding closed books in their hands. Two bishop-saints who are the founders of the Byzantine liturgy are in the middle. Saint Basil is in the middle-right and on the right side of him are Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Athanasios and probably Saint Nicholas, whose name disappeared, respectively. On the left side of Saint Basil is Saint Gregory the Theologian, and Saint Cyril of Alexandria next to him.
|