The founder of the church was Theodore Metochites, prime minister to Emperor Andronicus Palaeologus I.Theodore Metochites was also an astronomer, poet, theologian and philosopher. Unfortunately he lived a very sad life, after Palaeologus was replaced by another emperor, he was sent to exile. After he returned to Konstantinople, he devoted himself to the church as a monk and he died there. Early in the 16C, the church was converted into a mosque by Atik Ali Pasha and the mosaics were covered with plaster. In 1948, it was restored by Byzantine Institute of America and opened as a museum in 1958.
