The Fatih Mosque (, "Conqueror's 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 ...

in Ortahisar district of

Trabzon Province Trabzon Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its area is 4,628 km2, and its population is 818,023 (2022). Located in a strategic ...

, Turkey. It was originally built in

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 ...

times as the Panagia Chrysokephalos Church (, " Panagia the Golden-Headed"), serving as both the catholicon for the see of Trebizond, and a church for a monastery. It was built sometime in the 10th or 11th century. After Ottoman conquest of the city in 1461, the building became a mosque. The Fatih Mosque also displays the most beautiful samples of the Ottoman writing arts.

History

A number of churches are believed to have stood where the present structure now stands. During the heyday of the Empire of Trebziond, it was used as the resting-place for a number of dignitaries including Emperor John II Megas Komnenos in 1297, Metropolitan Niphon in 1364, and Emperor Alexios IV Megas Komnenos in 1429. The church became a mosque after the Ottoman conquest and first prayer was attended by

Mehmet 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, ...

, who adjoined a

madrasah Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning ...

(''Fatih Madrasa'') to the building. Ballance also notes that it is "very difficult" to date any portion of the church. She mentions a report of a plaque bearing the date 914 found (since lost) under the floor of the present building during repairs in 1877; there is also a dedication hymn that was sung at its rebuilding after the Hamigogullari set fire to the town in 1341. However, she was unable to match any of its features to either period. "On stylistic grounds a date in the 10th or perhaps 11th century seems reasonable for the basilical layout, with the dome perhaps 12th century ... but it is difficult to see how this can be reconciled with the evidence of the rededication hymn of the mid-14th century." Ballance does note a number of minor details, such as lower windows and blocked doorways, date to the Turkish period.

Architecture

Mosque of Orta Hissar Djamasi Trebizond Longitudinal section - Texier Charles - 1864

Mosque of Orta Hissar Djamasi Trebizond Ground plan - Texier Charles - 1864

Selina Ballance, who studied the building in 1958, described it as follows: "Though strongly

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

l in character, it has a dome, and

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s open from floor to vault running north and south to the outer walls; the aisles, like the nave, are barrel-vaulted, with ribs, but have galleries over them, even over the eastern bays which are cut off from the rest by the transepts: and the vaults of the aisle bays on the ground floor span at right-angles to those of the nave and the galleries."Selina Ballance
"The Byzantine Churches of Trebizond"
''Anatolian Studies'', 10 (1960), p. 146 She noted it was unusual in many respects, specifically in that basilicas do not commonly have galleried aisles—as this one does—and by having a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

outside of the main narthex.

Gallery

File:Fatih Cami Ocak 2016.jpg, The Fatih Mosque during restoration works in 2016 File:Trabzon,Ortahisar1.jpg, Mosque before restoration File:Khrysokephalos window.JPG, Window of the former Panagia Khrysokephalos church, now known as the Fatih mosque

Notes and references

{{Mosques in Turkey Mosques converted from Byzantine churches Empire of Trebizond Mosques in Trabzon Mosques converted from churches in Turkey Byzantine architecture in Trabzon Christian monasteries in Turkey Mosque buildings with minarets in Turkey 15th-century mosques in Turkey Byzantine church buildings in Turkey