The Church of the Holy Savior of Chora, called in Turkish, Kariye Camii, is after Hagia Sophia the most interesting Byzantine church in the city. Not so much for the building itself, pretty as that is, as because of the superb series of mosaics and frescoes which it preserves and which have been magnificently restored and cleaned by the Byzantine Institute of America.The name of the church,"in Chora" means "in the country" because the very ancient monastery to which it was attached was outside the walls of the Constantinian; later when it was included within the Theodosian walls, the name remained the Holy Savior of Chora.
The mosaics and frescoes are by far the most important and extensive series of Byzantine paintings in the city and among the best and most beautiful in the world.Above its fine marble revetments, the main church has retained the following mosaics: on the pilaster to the right of the holy bema, the representation of the Holy Virgin as "the Dwelling-place of the Uncontainable", on the corresponding pilaster to the left of the holy bema, the portrait of Christ holding a Book of Gospels; and over the central door, the only surviving scene from the Twelve Feasts cycle, the Dormition of the Virgin, a fine, balanced composition of classical conception and rendering.

The two narthexes are entirely decorated with extensive iconographic programmes.The outer narthex contains a wealth of splendid mosaics showing scenes from the Infancy of Christ in the tympana and of His Ministry in the cross vaults. The expressive figures, the colourful fabrics, the picturesque details, the buildings and the scenery, the structure of the compositions and the exquisite beauty of the colouring disclose a high standard of artistic inspiration and execution. The scenes are based upon the Gospels but alsoillustrate events from the Apocrypha in which grace and liveliness equal the poetical atmosphere of the incidents related. In the lunette over the doorway to the esonarthex Christ is pictured as "the Land of the Living". This composition is a visual representation of the theological and philosophical interpretation of the term,

dwelling-place of wisdom, wearing the gold and red calyptra, presented to him who upholds sovereignty by the glorious ruler Andronicus".
The two "Princes of the Apostles", St. Peter and St. Paul, are portrayed to the left and right of the entrance.To the right of the door, next to St. Paul, the east wall is occupied by a large mosaic of the Deesis. The portrayal of Christ in the type of the Chalkites is unparalleled. Standing full-length. He makes the sign of blessing, while the Holy Virgin to His right, intercedes with Christ for mankind. The composition includes to the left, near the figure of the Virgin, a miniature portrait of Isaac Comnenus, brother and for a time co-Emperor of John II Comnenus (1118-1143), and to the right, a miniature portrait of the Lady of the Mongols, Maria Palaeologina, sister of Andronicus II, as the nun Melane. This remarkable Deesis is dated to the 12th century and was preserved by Metochites, when he redecorated the church in the years between 1310 and 1320. Evidently, the portrait of the nun Melane is a 14th century addition