Hagia Irene Church

Then Hagia Irene Church, which rises in First Courtyard, Topkapi Palace, is one of Istanbul's earliest Byzantine church structures, originally constructed in the 4th century.

It never, unlike Hagia Sophia, became a mosque and consequently its Christian architecture remains complete, high center dome and bare, soulful interior.

Originally one part of an arsenal, Hagia Irene also currently functions as a concert hall, merging holy history and a renaissance of culture, symptomatic of centuries of Byzantine grace and imperial heritage.