The Kariye Museum takes its name from the Church of the Holy Savior in Chora, part of a Byzantine monastery complex. The complex was built outside the city walls, and chora means “countryside” in Greek, as in Saint Germain-des-Prés and Saint Martin-in-the-Fields. The original church on this site was built in the early fifth century, although the current structure is largely of later construction. The church was converted into a mosque in the early 1500s by Sultan Bayezid II. At the time, it was also known as Kenise Camii (The Church Mosque). The mosque was converted into a museum in 1945.