Hagia Irene Church

The Church of St. Irene (Hagia Irene) is one of the most unique and underappreciated monuments of Istanbul. Lying in the shadow of its great neighbor, Hagia Sophia, it preserves the memory of the birth of the Christian capital, the dramatic era of iconoclasm, and the Ottoman conquest. It is the only church in the city that was never converted into a mosque, and its ascetic, powerful atmosphere impresses no less than the gold of mosaics.