Chora Church open for tourists?

It was not open in October, and online comments I found at the time suggested there were no current plans to reopen it. I also asked at the Istanbul tourist office and was not given encouraging news.

Oh, that’s such a shame. I still remember visiting that church back in 2007. I walked for miles to get there, too. I hope that it will open again in the future. It was so beautiful.

As far as I know, Chora is not open now nor will it be for the foreseeable future.

The plan for converting it into a mosque called for the covering all the mosaics. UNESCO protested strongly, and the situation has been at an impasse for several years now with no sign of resolution. I presume that it will remain closed as long as Erdogan is in power. (I am glad that I got to see it in 2015.)

The website for Chora is here https://muze.gen.tr/muze-detay/kariye and it currently lists status as "under renovation." It is being converted to a mosque and as acraven noted, it's probably not going to open to the public any time soon. But check with locals or the TI when you visit, the status could change at any time.

Also if you hadn't noted other recent forum posts, there is a new entrance fee for the Hagia Sophia, a new process as of this week. Hopefully will be sorted out by the time you visit in April. From the description it sounds like you will be able to see the second floor mosaics with that entry fee (on my September visit, you could not access the second floor).

I went there yesterday, still close, but so far the restoration works looks amazing from outside. Couldnt go in, but looks like will open soon.