The Church of Saint Catherine () is a late

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 ...

church in the northwestern corner of the Ano Poli,

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

History

The church dates to the

Palaiologan period The Byzantine Empire, officially known as the Roman Empire, was ruled by the Palaiologos dynasty in the period between 1261 and 1453, from the restoration of Byzantine rule to Constantinople by the usurper Michael VIII Palaiologos following its r ...

, but its exact dating and original dedication are unknown. From its interior decoration, which survives in fragments and is dated to ca. 1315, it has been suggested that it was the ''

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon () or ''sobor'' () refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major Church (building), church building (temple) of a monastery corresponding to a conventual ...

'' of the Monastery of the Almighty. It was converted to 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 ...

by Yakup Pasha in the reign of the Ottoman sultan

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

(r. 1481–1512) and named after him Yakup Pasha Mosque (). In 1988, it was included among the

Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki The city of Thessaloniki in Macedonia, Greece, for several centuries the second-most important city of the Byzantine Empire, played an important role for Christianity during the Middle Ages and was decorated by impressive buildings. Because of Th ...

on the list of

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

References

Sources

* Byzantine church buildings in Thessaloniki World Heritage Sites in Greece Mosques converted from churches in Ottoman Greece 14th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Church buildings with domes 14th-century churches in Greece Former mosques in Greece 14th-century establishments in the Byzantine Empire {{Byzantine-stub

History

See also

References

Sources