Kariye Mosque (Chora) 2027: €20 Ticket, Hours, Fridays and Mosaics

Foreign visitors pay €20 to enter the former Chora Church, now the Kariye Mosque, which is closed to tourists on Fridays. Here are the hours, prayer pauses, what mosaics you can still see and how to get to Edirnekapı.

Muharrem BayrakAuthor24 October 202610 min read

Kariye Mosque (Chora) 2027: €20 Ticket, Hours, Fridays and Mosaics

Foreign visitors pay €20 to enter the Kariye Mosque, the former Chora Church in Istanbul's Edirnekapı district, and the building is closed to tourists all day on Fridays. The fee was set by the General Directorate of Foundations and has applied since 19 August 2024, with tourist visits running from 09:00 to 18:00 on the other six days and pausing 15 minutes before each prayer. The Museum Pass Istanbul is not accepted.

Chora is no longer a simple museum stop. It reopened for Muslim worship on 6 May 2024 after almost four years of restoration, and now works like a small Hagia Sophia: worshippers in the prayer hall, paying visitors in the narthexes and side chapel. Most of the 14th-century art is still on view; some of it, in the prayer hall, is behind curtains.

At a glance
Foreign visitor ticket	€20 per person (reported August 2024; check at the booth)
Free entry	Turkish citizens and anyone coming to pray
Tourist hours	09:00 to 18:00, Saturday to Thursday
Fridays	Worship only, no tourist visits
Prayer times	Tourist entry stops 15 minutes before each prayer
Museum Pass	Not valid
Time needed	About 45 to 75 minutes inside
Nearest tram	T4 Edirnekapı, then a 10 to 15 minute walk

Frescoed dome with painted saints above arched windows inside the Chora (Kariye) Mosque in Istanbul

Chora ticket price and who pays

The €20 fee came in under what the foundations directorate calls a protective visitor management plan. Hürriyet Daily News reported it on 19 August 2024, the day it started; Bianet, citing Anadolu Agency, confirmed it a day later. DHA, the Turkish news agency, reported at the time that the booth also rents headphones for €5, a body covering for €3 and a headscarf for €1.50. We have not seen a newer official price list, so treat those extras as the August 2024 figures.

Tickets are sold at the booth by the entrance. There is no combined ticket with Hagia Sophia or Topkapı, and the Museum Pass Istanbul does not work here because the mosque is run by the foundations directorate, not the museums department. If you are weighing up the pass, our note on the Istanbul Tourist Pass versus the Museum Pass explains which sites each one covers.

Turkish site prices are often revised in January. Travel guides updated in 2026 still list €20 and we found no report of a higher figure, but if the board on the day says otherwise, the board is right.

Opening hours, Fridays and prayer pauses

Bianet reported tourist hours of 09:00 to 18:00 on every day except Friday. On Fridays the building is open for worship only, which Hürriyet Daily News described as the main change of the new plan.

On the six tourist days, the rule that catches people out is prayer time. Visits stop 15 minutes before each call to prayer and, according to DHA, start again 15 minutes after the prayer ends. Around the noon and afternoon prayers that means a wait, so check the day's times on a prayer-time app before you set off.

Our guides usually make Chora the first stop of a western Old City day, arriving close to 09:00. The building is small, one coach group can fill the narthex, and early morning keeps you clear of the noon pause.

What you can still see: the mosaics and the Anastasis fresco

Chora's art dates from about 1315 to 1321, when the statesman Theodore Metochites rebuilt and decorated the church. It is the finest surviving set of late Byzantine mosaics and frescoes, and almost all of it is on the visitor route.

The two narthexes. These entrance halls hold the long mosaic cycles of the life of the Virgin Mary and the life and miracles of Christ. In the two small domes of the inner narthex, Christ and the Virgin sit inside rings of ancestors. Above the door into the prayer hall, Metochites kneels and offers a model of the church to Christ. Nearby is the large Deesis panel of Christ and Mary.

The parekklesion. This long side chapel was built as a funeral chapel, and its walls are painted in fresco rather than mosaic. In the apse is the Anastasis, Christ pulling Adam and Eve out of their tombs while the gates of hell lie broken under his feet. It is on the tourist route. The Last Judgment fills the vault above.

The prayer hall (naos). This is where the visit differs from the museum years. Reports from the reopening, including Catholic News Agency on 9 May 2024, said the figural mosaics in the worship area were covered with curtains. Visitors can walk through the hall outside prayer times, with shoes off, but do not expect to see every panel there.

Mosaic dome with rows of figures radiating from a central medallion in the narthex of the Chora (Kariye) Mosque

Dress code and behaviour inside

The rules are the same as at any working mosque in Istanbul. Women cover their hair, shoulders and knees; men wear trousers or long shorts below the knee and no sleeveless tops. Shoes come off before the carpeted prayer hall, and you carry them in a bag.

Keep voices low and do not photograph worshippers. Skip the flash on the mosaics. For the general rules of visiting Istanbul's mosques, our guide to Blue Mosque visiting hours, prayer times and dress code covers the same ground in more detail.

How to get to Chora from Sultanahmet, Balat and Taksim

Chora sits just inside the Theodosian land walls near the Edirnekapı gate, about 5 km west of Sultanahmet.

By tram. From Sultanahmet take the T1 tram west to Topkapı and change to the T4 line, getting off at Edirnekapı. From there it is a 10 to 15 minute walk downhill through the old streets to the mosque. Allow about 40 minutes in total.

By taxi. A taxi from Sultanahmet takes about 20 minutes outside rush hour. Ask for "Kariye Camii, Edirnekapı". It is the easiest option for families, as the last stretch is steep and cobbled.

From Balat. Many visitors combine Chora with Balat and Fener on the Golden Horn. The T5 tram from Eminönü stops at Balat, and from there it is an uphill walk of 20 minutes or more through residential streets to the mosque. Chora first, then downhill to Balat for lunch, is kinder on the legs.

From Taksim and Beşiktaş. City buses run to Edirnekapı, but check routes in a maps app on the day. A taxi or private car is far simpler.

Gold and blue mosaic dome of the Chora narthex seen from directly below, Istanbul

Chora or Hagia Sophia: which one if time is short

Both are Byzantine churches turned back into mosques with euro tickets for foreigners, but the visits are very different.

	Chora (Kariye Mosque)	Hagia Sophia
Foreign visitor ticket	€20	€25 (reported since January 2024)
What you see	Close-up 14th-century mosaics and frescoes, narthexes and chapel	Upper gallery and the scale of the 6th-century dome
Fridays	Closed to tourists	Check our Hagia Sophia guide for prayer pauses
Crowds	Small groups, quieter mornings	Long queues most days
Location	Edirnekapı, tram change or taxi	Sultanahmet, on the T1 tram
Time needed	45 to 75 minutes	About 1 hour

If you care about Byzantine art, Chora is the better visit, because you stand a few metres from the mosaics rather than looking at them from a gallery. If you want the most famous building in the city, Hagia Sophia wins. Our page on Hagia Sophia tickets today has its current rules.

What this means for your trip

Plan Chora on a Saturday to Thursday morning, before the noon prayer, and carry €20 per foreign adult plus a scarf and long clothes so you do not need to rent them. Group it with the western half of the Old City: Chora, the land walls at Edirnekapı, then down to Balat and Fener for lunch and the Golden Horn. On the way back towards Eminönü, the Süleymaniye Mosque is an easy addition.

Is it worth it? For most visitors interested in history, yes. The €20 buys an hour with art that has no equal in Istanbul, and the streets of wooden houses outside add to it. If you only have one day and want the headline sights, or your only free day is a Friday, leave it for another trip.

Questions travellers are asking

How much is the Chora Church ticket for foreigners?

Foreign visitors pay €20 per person to enter the Kariye Mosque, the former Chora Church, a fee set by the General Directorate of Foundations from 19 August 2024, while Turkish citizens and anyone coming to pray enter free and the Museum Pass Istanbul is not accepted.

Is the Chora Church open on Fridays?

No, the Kariye Mosque is closed to tourist visits all day on Fridays, when the building is used for worship only, so foreign visitors should plan their Chora visit between Saturday and Thursday, ideally in the morning between 09:00 and the noon prayer pause. Worshippers can still enter on Fridays free of charge.

What are the Kariye Mosque visiting hours?

Tourist visits to the Kariye Mosque run from 09:00 to 18:00 on Saturday to Thursday, but entry stops 15 minutes before each of the daily prayers and resumes about 15 minutes after the prayer ends, so a visit around noon or mid-afternoon may involve a wait. Check the day's prayer times before you set off.

Can you still see the mosaics in the Chora Church?

Yes, most of the famous mosaics and frescoes remain visible, including the narthex cycles of the lives of Christ and the Virgin, the Metochites donor panel, the Deesis and the Anastasis fresco in the side chapel, while figural mosaics in the prayer hall are curtained during worship.

Is the Museum Pass valid at the Chora Church?

No, the Museum Pass Istanbul is not valid at the Kariye Mosque, because the building is managed by the General Directorate of Foundations rather than the museums department, so every foreign visitor needs a separate €20 ticket bought at the booth by the entrance on the day of the visit.

How do I get to the Chora Church from Sultanahmet?

From Sultanahmet take the T1 tram west to Topkapı, change to the T4 tram and get off at Edirnekapı, then walk 10 to 15 minutes to the mosque, or take a taxi for about 20 minutes outside rush hour and ask the driver for Kariye Camii. The last streets are steep and cobbled.

What should I wear to the Kariye Mosque?

Women should cover their hair, shoulders and knees, men should wear long trousers or shorts below the knee and avoid sleeveless tops, and everyone removes their shoes before the carpeted prayer hall, as at any working mosque in Istanbul, including the former Chora Church. Bring your own scarf to avoid the rental fee.

Is the Chora Church worth visiting?

For anyone interested in Byzantine art the Chora Church is worth the €20 ticket, because its early 14th-century mosaics and frescoes are the finest of their period anywhere and can be seen at close range, while visitors with only one day may prefer the central Sultanahmet sights. Pair it with Balat and Fener for a half day.

Plan it with us

Our Istanbul churches full-day private tour from $180 pairs Byzantine and living churches, and Chora fits it outside Fridays. The Classic Istanbul private tour from $200 covers the Byzantine and Ottoman Old City with a licensed guide, and the Best of Istanbul private tour, 1 to 3 days from $199 leaves room for Chora, Balat and the walls. To skip the tram change, the private city tour by Mercedes Vito from $220 takes up to six people to Edirnekapı and back.

Send your dates and hotel to us on WhatsApp +90 545 307 67 88 and we will plan the day around prayer times and the Friday closure.

Sources: Hürriyet Daily News, 19 August 2024; Bianet (citing Anadolu Agency), 20 August 2024; DHA via Gazete Birlik, August 2024; Catholic News Agency via Catholic World Report, 9 May 2024; Istanbul.com Kariye Mosque visitor page, checked October 2026.