Şeyh Süleyman Mosque () is a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

converted from a former

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

building which was part of the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Pantokrator Monastery. Its usage during the Byzantine era is unclear. The small building is a minor example of architecture of the Byzantine middle period in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Location

The structure is located in ''Zeyrek Sokak'', in the district of

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

, in the neighborhood of Zeyrek,Ronchey (2010), p. 572 about 120 meters southwest of the former Pantokrator Church, now part of the Mosque of Zeyrek.Müller-Wiener (1976), p. 202

History

Nothing is known about the history of this small octagonal building before 1453. Almost certainly it was part of the great Monastery of Christ Pantokrator, erected between 1118 and 1124 by

Empress Irene Komnene.Krautheimer (1986), p. 409 According to some scholars it could have been a burial place, while others think that it was the library of the monastery. Shortly after the

Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

in 1453, under

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

, the building was converted into a mosque by '' Şeyh'' Süleyman Halîfe (?–1491). In any case, the instrument endowing the corresponding ''

waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

'' is missing.Müller-Wiener (1976), p. 203 After the great fire of 1756 the building was restored during the reign of Sultan

Mustafa III Mustafa III (; ''Muṣṭafā-yi sālis''; 28 January 1717 – 21 January 1774) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30), and his consort Mihrişah Kadın. He was succeeded b ...

(r. 1757-74) by Kazgan Asan Aĝa, and assigned to the nearby ''

medrese Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

''.Eyice (1955), p. 59

Description

The building has a square plan and is topped by a low octagonal

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

with

pendentives In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to point ...

. Inside the building four niches are located in the corners. Underground there is a burial

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

with eight niches covered by a dome vault. The

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

of the lower part is made of

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

, while in the upper part it consists of

bricks A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building u ...

. A Byzantine

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

is still extant close to the building.

Notes

References

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External links

3D reconstruction
of the Pantokrator Monastery at the ''Byzantium 1200'' project {{DEFAULTSORT:Seyh Suleyman Mosque Byzantine architecture in Istanbul Mosques converted from churches in Istanbul Fatih