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Hagia Irene is an Eastern Orthodox church in the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palace, Istanbul. It is the city's oldest church and, along with the Church of Saint Mary of the Mongols, one of the few Byzantine churches never converted into a mosque. Used as an arsenal until the 19th century, it now serves as a museum and concert hall.
Believed to stand on a pre-Christian temple, Hagia Irene predates Hagia Sophia, originally built under Constantine I in the 4th century. It served as the Patriarchate's church until Hagia Sophia's completion in 360. Destroyed in the Nika Revolt (532), it was rebuilt by Justinian I in 548 and later restored by Constantine V after an earthquake in 740.
The church follows a basilica plan with a cross-domed gallery level. It features Byzantine mosaics, including an Iconoclastic-era cross, and houses the city's only surviving synthronon (clergy seating).
After Constantinople fell in 1453, Hagia Irene became an arsenal for the Janissaries and later a military museum (1726–1978). Since 1980, it has hosted classical music concerts, particularly during the Istanbul International Music Festival. Open to the public since 2014, it remains a significant historical and cultural site.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.