The Church of Saint Savior in Cora, in Istanbul, Turkey, will be transformed into a mosque from February 23, according to the Fides news agency, linked to the Vatican. The site, built in the 12th century, has operated as a museum since 1945.
The decision had been announced in 2020 by the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a month after the same measure was imposed on the Church of Saint Sophia.
The move was supposed to take place in October of the same year, but restoration work was necessary. Now, the change will be put into practice.
The Church of Saint Savior in Cora was a medieval Byzantine church decorated with 14th-century frescoes depicting the Last Judgment. The site was converted into a mosque in 1511 and its frescoes and mosaics were covered but not destroyed. At the end of the Second World War, it became a museum after a major restoration process.
In a 2020 interview with the newspaper Il Giornale Dell'arte, professor emeritus of history at the University of Pennsylvania and expert on Byzantine architecture Robert G. Ousterhout said Erdogan's decision was a “blatant attempt to erase Istanbul's rich Byzantine heritage.” .
“It is a purely political maneuver, which instigates its supporters by mocking the West”, criticized Ousterhout.
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