click images to enlarge   Kariye Camii | Building History Professor Ousterhout Building History Description of Exterior Description of Interior Architecture & Decoration Pictorial Imagery ------------------------ Back to Kariye Camii Main Older phases of the 6th and 9th centuries are extant in the foundations; the naos superstructure dates from the 11th to 12th centuries. During this period, there was a transition from the cross-in-square plan to the cross-domed naos. The Kariye Camii seems to have suffered during the Latin Occupation of Constantinople (1204–61). Around 1300, the scholar Maximos Planudes complained about the deterioration of the monastic library. Shortly thereafter, the Patriarch Athanasios stayed at the Kariye Camii when visiting the emperor and complained, "I have at least twenty followers who have no place to sleep and are freezing and covered with mud. If my cell were able to hold a windmill, the monks of the Chora could grind a lot of flour." Istanbul, Kariye Camii, Exterior view from the Southwest back to briefing main briefing | image index | resources home page | site image index | site resources media center for art history and archaeology | columbia university