ŞEHZADE MOSQUE COMPLEX

Şehzadebaşı, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'51.0"N 28°57'25.0"E / 41.014167, 28.956944



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The Şehzade Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in the Şehzadebaşı neighborhood of district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul, Turkey. It is sometimes referred to as the “Prince's Mosque” in English. Located on the main artery connecting Beyazit to Edirnekapı, the site is bounded by the Divanyolu boulevard to its south and the Valens aqueduct, constructed during the Roman era, to its north. Its west side borders a park along Atatürk boulevard adjacent to Saraçhane Square. Overall, the site measures approximately 240 meters wide east to west and 160 meters long north to south.

The Şehzade Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Süleyman I in memory of his eldest son by Hürrem, Prince Mehmet, who died of smallpox at the age of 21 in 1543, though the cause for his death is disputed. It was the first major commission by the Imperial Architect Mimar Sinan, and was completed in 1548. It is considered by architectural historians as Sinan's first masterpiece of classical Ottoman architecture.

According its Persian inscription Şehzade Mosque and Complex was built by Imperial Architect Mimar Sinan between 1543 and 1548, on behalf of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent’s son by Hürrem, Şehzade Mehmet, who died of smallpox at the age of 21 in 1543 in Manisa. The general opinion is the Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent had started the construction on his own behalf; however, he dedicated this complex to his favourite son, who died in 22.

Şehzade complex (Külliye) consists of the mosque, the tomb (türbe) of Prince Mehmet (which was completed prior to the mosque), two Qur'an schools (medrese), a public kitchen (imaret) which served food to the poor, and a caravansarai. The mosque and its courtyard are surrounded by a wall that separates them from the rest of the complex.

Exterior Architecture
The mosque is surrounded by an inner colonnaded courtyard (avlu) with an area equal to that of the mosque itself. The courtyard is bordered by a portico with five domed bays on each side, with arches in alternating pink and white marble. At the center is an ablution fountain (şadırvan), which was a later donation from Sultan Murat IV. The two minarets have elaborate geometric sculpture in low bas-relief and occasional terracotta inlays.

The mosque itself has a square plan, covered by a central dome, flanked by four half-domes. The dome is supported by four piers, and has a diameter of 19 meters and it is 37 meters high. It was in this building that Sinan first adopted the technique of placing colonnaded galleries along the entire length of the north and south facades in order to conceal the buttresses.

Interior Architecture
The interior of the Şehzade Mosque has a symmetrical plan, with the area under the central dome expanded by use of four semidomes, one on each side, in the shape of a four leaf clover. This technique was not entirely successful, as it isolated the four huge piers needed to support the central dome, and was never again repeated by Sinan. The interior of the mosque has a very simple design, without galleries.

Complex
The complex is composed of several distinct structures within a polygonal walled perimeter. Şehzade complex (Külliye) is situated between Fatih Sultan Mehmet II and Sultan Bayezid II complexes. The Külliye consists of the mosque, and six unique mausolea (türbe) ( 1 of Prince Mehmet (which was completed prior to the mosque), two Qur'an schools (medrese), tabhane, elementary school, cemetery, a public kitchen (imaret) which served food to the poor, and a caravansarai.

The mosque and its courtyard are surrounded by a wall that separates them from the rest of the complex. Construction of the complex began in 1544 CE (AH 951) and was largely completed by 1549 CE (AH 956).

The complex is composed of several distinct structures within a polygonal walled perimeter. Overall, the site measures approximately 240 meters wide east to west and 160 meters long north to south. The mosque is located at the center of the walled site, surrounded by gardens and pathways leading to other buildings within the complex. The mosque is accessible from the north, south, and west via five primary entrances; three portals open into the avlu and two into the prayer hall. The qibla wall forms the eastern elevation of the mosque.

The plan of the mosque is composed of two adjacent squares, each measuring forty-two meters to a side. The western half of the mosque forms an avlu, a square central courtyard surrounded by a row of vaulted portico bays accented with white and pink marble voussoirs. The avlu is notable as the first example in Ottoman architecture of the use of an open-air portico, instead of enclosed galleries, as the surround for a mosque courtyard.

The octagonal marble ablution fountain in the center of the courtyard was donated after the original construction of the complex by Sultan Murat IV (1612-1640 CE / AH 1021-1050). At the center of the east wall of the avlu is a recessed portal leading into the prayer hall, topped by elaborate carved muqarnas.

The mosque's two minarets rise above the northeast and southeast corners of the avlu at the northwest and southwest corners of the prayer hall. The enclosed stairways of the minarets are accessed from small portals on the exterior of the mosque. The shafts of the twin minarets feature ornate decorative sculpture in the form of geometric bas-reliefs and inlaid terracotta panels.

The eastern half of the mosque is the enclosed prayer hall. The prayer hall features a symmetrical, centrally focused plan, as did many of Sinan's mosques. Just as in the portico to the west, the plan of the hall is organized according to a five aisle by five row grid, in which domed bays along the perimeter form a square border around a larger three bay by three bay space at the center. The corner bays are each slightly under eight meters square, while the bays along the center of each wall are approximately twenty-two meters long and eight meters deep.

Four massive pillars are located at the corners of the large central bay, whose interior spans nineteen meters square. The pillars each measure close to five meters square to provide support for the massive arches that frame the edges of the central bay. These four arches are flanked by semi-domes that cover the central bays along each wall of the prayer hall. The four arches also provide support for a nineteen-meter-wide dome that springs from pendentives over the center of the prayer hall.

The central dome rises to a maximum height of thirty-seven meters, suggesting a spherical space in section. Three-meter-deep galleries line the exteriors of the north and south walls to conceal large buttresses that provide additional structural support for the heavy central dome.

The interior is primarily of white stone, with polychrome Iznik tile work in radial geometric patterns at the centers of each dome and semi-dome of the ceiling, as well as within triangular panels on the squinches and pendentives. The voussoirs are finished in a pattern of alternating red and white stones to draw attention to the large arches supporting the roof. A large circular iron chandelier is suspended from the central dome above the red carpeted floor. The mihrab niche is surmounted by muqarnas and surrounded by large stained-glass windows.

Entrances to the prayer hall are located at the center of its north, west, and south walls, while the mihrab niche occupies the center of the east qibla wall. The minbar is located four meters to the south of the mihrab niche along the qibla wall. As the four pillars at the center of the support much of the load of the domed roof structure, the exterior walls have relatively little load to bear and thus are highly perforated to allow generous sunlight. Sinan revised this simple plan in his later imperial mosques to allow the support piers to be better integrated with the exterior walls of the prayer hall and thus less isolated near its center.

Though tabhanes were often directly attached to mosques later in Ottoman period, the tabhane at the Şehzade complex is a freestanding structure located to the east of the madrasa and north of the mosque, mausolea, and gardens. The tabhane is composed of a series of domed chambers designed to house pious travelers during short visits to the mosque. The tabhane is subdivided into three sections; the western and central sections are identical, while the larger eastern section features a unique interior organization and an adjacent trapezoidal courtyard.

The enclosed portion of the eastern section is composed of two aisles of domed bays, each four rows deep. The sections to the west are each subdivided into thirds, with two small domed chambers to both the east and west of a larger central domed space. The tabhane measures between sixty-two and sixty-seven meters wide east to west and between thirteen and twenty-four meters long north to south.

The complex is interrupted by Dede Efendi Street to the east of the tabhane and mausolea, and though the complex's perimeter wall creates a solid boundary along the street-edge, a hospice and elementary school affiliated with the mosque were constructed directly across the narrow street. The hospice is rectangular with a large central courtyard, measuring approximately twenty-five meters wide east to west and fifty-six meters long north to south. The elementary school is located adjacent and to the south of the hospice, a small square domed structure measuring ten meters to a side.

Opposite the elementary school, a small break in the complex perimeter wall allows entry to the gardens north of the mausolea. There is a second entrance opening to the courtyard of the tabhane, opposite the entrance to the hospice. The perimeter wall is further perforated to the east and south of the mausolea and to the south and west of the mosque in order to permit diverse points of entry to the complex, with no apparent primary gateway.

Mosque
The mosque has an area of 38 x 38 meters with a central dome that was constructed on four big columns. The dome has a diameter of 19 meters and a depth of 53 meters. The central dome was supported by four half-domes. The mosque has two minarets with two sherefes (minaret balcony) each with ornamentation and decoration pretty far from the architectural simplicity of that period. The nine domes of the mosque which encircle the courtyard have the same dimensions and the same height and form a symmetric unity with the fountain located in the middle of the complex.

Evliya Chelebi (1611-1684), the famous 17th century Ottoman traveler and writer, stated that the dome of the fountain had been built by Sultan Murad IV and praised the architect Sinan, due to the decoration of the minarets.

The mosque is located in the center of the complex. It is surrounded by a courtyard and contains an inner courtyard as well. In the middle of the interior courtyard is a domed reservoir used for ablutions. The minarets are found where the walls of the courtyard and mosque meet. The two minarets each have twin galleries and are unique in Istanbul due to their exterior ornamentation.

The main dome of the mosque rests on four elephant legs. The most striking of the structures within the mosque are the pulpit, niche and müezzin gallery. The medresse, primary school, soup kitchen and hospital are found to the north of the complex and were built in such a way as to constitute a courtyard wall.

The mosque is located at the center of the walled site, surrounded by gardens and pathways leading to other buildings within the complex. The mosque is accessible from the north, south, and west via five primary entrances; three portals open into the avlu and two into the prayer hall. The qibla wall forms the eastern elevation of the mosque.

The interior of the Şehzade Mosque has a symmetrical plan, with the area under the central dome expanded by use of four semidomes, one on each side, in the shape of a four leaf clover. This technique was not entirely successful, as it isolated the four huge piers needed to support the central dome, and was never again repeated by Sinan. The interior of the mosque has a very simple design, without galleries.

Because there is no column or wall dividing the interior of the mosque measuring 40.58 x 40.43 m, the view of the mosque is more attractive. The mosque was restored in 1616 after the fire of 1613. The two minarets, 41.5 m in height, having elaborate geometric decorations, were damaged during the fires of 1718 and 1722. The dome, 24 windows, is supported by four piers through large arches, and has a diameter of 18.7 m and it is 37 meters high.

The mosque’s courtyard is surrounded by a portico with 16 domes and 12 columns. It was in this building that Sinan first adopted the technique of placing colonnaded galleries along the entire length of the north and south facades in order to conceal the buttresses. The fountain, in the center, was built during the reign of Sultan Murat IV (1623 - 1640).

The mosque is surrounded by an inner colonnaded courtyard (avlu) with an area equal to that of the mosque itself. The courtyard is bordered by a portico with five domed bays on each side, with arches in alternating pink and white marble. At the center is an ablution fountain (şadırvan), which was a later donation from Sultan Murat IV. The two minarets have elaborate geometric sculpture in low bas-relief and occasional terracotta inlays.

The mosque itself has a square plan, covered by a central dome, flanked by four half-domes. The dome is supported by four piers, and has a diameter of 19 meters and it is 37 meters high. It was in this building that Sinan first adopted the technique of placing colonnaded galleries along the entire length of the north and south facades in order to conceal the buttresses.

The plan of the mosque is composed of two adjacent squares, each measuring forty-two meters to a side. The western half of the mosque forms an avlu, a square central courtyard surrounded by a row of vaulted portico bays accented with white and pink marble voussoirs. The avlu is notable as the first example in Ottoman architecture of the use of an open-air portico, instead of enclosed galleries, as the surround for a mosque courtyard.

The octagonal marble ablution fountain in the center of the courtyard was donated after the original construction of the complex by Sultan Murat IV (1612-1640 CE / AH 1021-1050). At the center of the east wall of the avlu is a recessed portal leading into the prayer hall, topped by elaborate carved muqarnas.

The Tombs
There are six mausoleums within the complex, five in an enclosed cemetery and one in the walls of the other court. The tomb of Şehzade Mehmed is one of the finest of them. The imperial mausoleums (türbe) are noted for their lavish use of İznik tiles. The first and largest is the türbe of Şehzade Mehmet, an octagonal structure, with polychrome stonework and terracotta window frames and arches and an opus sectile porch. The double dome is fluted. An inscription in Persian verse over the door gives the date of the Prince's death and suggests that the interior of the türbe is like a garden in Paradise.

The structure is supported by terracotta arches and roofed by a fluted dome. The tomb of Şehzade Mehmed is located at the center of the mausoleum, covered by a walnut baldachin. Openings in the walls allow for stained glass windows on all faces, as well as an entrance portal on the north elevation. A porch featuring inlaid opus sectile stonework leads to the entrance portal, which is surmounted by a commemorative inscription in Persian verse.

The starting year of the construction of the Tomb for Prince Mehmet was 1543 and it was completed in 1544. Walls of the tomb were covered with ceramics, and the windows have stained glass. Other than the tomb of Prince Mehmet, there are the sarcophagus of Cihangir, son of the the Süleyman the Magnificient who passed away in early age just like Prince Mehmet, the sarcophagus of Hümüşah, the daughter of the Süleyman the Magnificient, as well as three unknown sarcophagi in the tomb. Openings in the walls allow for stained glass windows on all faces, as well as an entrance portal on the north elevation.

Also designed by Sinan, the mausoleum of Grand Vizier Rüstem Paşa (1561-62 CE / AH 968-969) and his son were buried is located two meters south of Şehzade Mehmed's mausoleum. Rüstem Pasha was the son-in-law of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Like the mosque of Rüstem Paşa in Istanbul, the octagonal mausoleum features elaborate Iznik tile work.

The mausoleum of Şehzade Mahmud (d. 1603 CE / AH 1012), located five meters to the southwest of Şehzade Mehmed's structure, is a hexagonal structure measuring three meters to a side. Immediately to its south is the slightly smaller octagonal mausoleum of Seyhülislam Bostanzade Mehmed (d. 1598 CE / AH 1007).

Nine meters to the west, a larger octagonal mausoleum measuring four meters to a side honors Bosnian İbrahim Paşa (d. 1603 CE / AH 1012), Grand Vizier to and son-in-law of Sultan Murat II. Designed by Dalgıç Ahmed Ağa, this mausoleum is almost as large as that of Şehzade Mehmed.

Finally, the baldachin tomb of Şehzade Mehmed's granddaughter Fatma Sultan (1588-1589 CE / AH 996-997) is located ten meters to the east of Mehmed's mausoleum. This small domed square structure measures four meters to a side and is located adjacent to the eastern wall of the complex.

Also in the complex, Hatice Sultan, daughter to Sultan Murat III, Fatma Sultan, Şehzade Mehmet’s grandson, and Destari Mustafa Efendi, who was murdered in 1614, are buried.

Madrasah
It consists of 20 rooms, a bath, and eyvan, a vaulted room with one side open to a court that was used a dormitory for girls after 1950s. The Tabhane, (the hostel attached to a mosque where travelers (usually dervishes and mystics) could live free for three days), was located just like the Madrasah toward the east on the outer wall of courtyard.

This prayer room measures eleven meters to a side, and it projects five meters beyond the line of the exterior wall. The madrasa is accessible from the north via several entrances facing the Valens aqueduct, or by three central entrances along its south wall that face the mosque and mausolea within the Şehzade complex.

In the madrasah of the complex, completed between 1546 and 1547, there are 20 rooms and a classroom. The porticos were covered by glass cases while the madrasah was used as a dormitory for girls in the 1950s. The madrasa is located thirty-seven meters north of the mosque at the northwest corner of the complex. It follows a typical Ottoman organization in which twenty small cells and a second row of vaulted galleries are organized around a large rectangular central courtyard.

Overall, the madrasa measures forty-six meters wide east to west and thirty-two meters long north to south. Its regularity is broken by a square domed prayer room embedded at the center of the eastern wall. This prayer room measures eleven meters to a side, and it projects five meters beyond the line of the exterior wall. The madrasa is accessible from the north via several entrances facing the Valens aqueduct, or by three central entrances along its south wall that face the mosque and mausolea within the Sehzade complex.

The medrese of the Şehzade foundation is on the far side of the precinct, at the north-west corner. It is a handsome building of the usual form. The south side, facing the mosque precinct, has a portico but no cells. Opposite the entrance, instead of the usual dershane, is an open loggia, the lecture hall itself being in the centre of the east side; opposite, a passage between two cells leads to the lavatories.

The building has been well restored and is again in use as a residence for university students. In line with the medrese but farther east is the kervansaray, which now serves as a science laboratory for the adjacent Vefa Lisesi. This building is probably not by Sinan, though obviously contemporary, or nearly so, with the rest of the complex.

It has no door into the mosque precinct but is entered from the other side. It is L-shaped, the bottom stroke of the L consisting of a long, wide hall, its eight domes supported on three columns down its length; perpendicular to this is a block of eight cubicles with two spacious halls giving access to them. This interesting building is in good shape and makes a fine science laboratory.

Sıbyan Mektebi
The building located in the southern part of the Şehzade Complex, sometimes used as the printing house of Istanbul University, was Sıbyan Mektebi, an Ottoman elementary school. The entry porch of the school does not exist today; the window structure has been metamorphosed and the fireplace was removed when it was used as a warehouse.

Primary School
The Primary School, single - domed with a diameter of 7.5 m, measuring 9.5 x 9.5 m, is now used by the Foundation of İstanbul University Political Sciences Graduates

Daruzziyafe
There is another structure called Daruzziyafe (Restaurant, previously a soup kitchen in the 16th century) which consists of three sections and draws the attention of visitors.

Kitchen
The lodging room of the imaret (kitchen) is used as repositories of Vefa High School. The two roomed kitchens, facing a rectangular courtyard, have been devastated day by day due to the squalor and neglect. The hospice is rectangular with a large central courtyard, measuring approximately twenty-five meters wide east to west and fifty-six meters long north to south. Soup kitchen consists of kitchen, dining room, storeroom and cellar.

Tabhane
The Tabhane, (the hostel attached to a mosque where travelers (usually dervishes and mystics) could live free for three days), was located just like the Madrasah toward the east on the outer wall of courtyard. Though tabhanes were often directly attached to mosques later in Ottoman period, the tabhane at the Şehzade complex is a freestanding structure located to the east of the madrasa and north of the mosque, mausolea, and gardens.

The tabhane is composed of a series of domed chambers designed to house pious travelers during short visits to the mosque. The tabhane is subdivided into three sections; the western and central sections are identical, while the larger eastern section features a unique interior organization and an adjacent trapezoidal courtyard.

The enclosed portion of the eastern section is composed of two aisles of domed bays, each four rows deep. The sections to the west are each subdivided into thirds, with two small domed chambers to both the east and west of a larger central domed space. The tabhane measures between sixty-two and sixty-seven meters wide east to west and between thirteen and twenty-four meters long north to south.

The complex is interrupted by Dede Efendi Street to the east of the tabhane and mausolea, and though the complex's perimeter wall creates a solid boundary along the street-edge, a hospice and elementary school affiliated with the mosque were constructed directly across the narrow street.

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İMRAHOR İLYAS BEY MOSQUE

Kocamustafa Paşa, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 40°59'46.0"N 28°55'43.0"E / 40.996111, 28.928611



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Studios Monastery (Imrahor / Emir Ahir Mosque): Situated on Yedikule Imam Aşir Street, Studios (Imrahor, Emir Ahır Mosque) is the oldest apparent religious structure in İstanbul. The Monastery of Stoudios, more fully Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner "at Stoudios", often shortened to Stoudios, Studion, or Stoudion, (Latin: Studium), was historically the most important monastery of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The residents of the monastery were referred to as Stoudites (or Studites).

Although the monastery has been derelict for half a millennium, the laws and customs of the Stoudion were taken as models by the monks of Mount Athos and of many other monasteries of the Orthodox world; even today they have influence. The ruins of the monastery are situated not far from the Propontis (Marmara Sea) in the section of the city called Psamathia, today's Koca Mustafa Paşa. It was founded in 462 by the consul Stoudios (Latin: Studius), a Roman patrician who had settled in Constantinople, and was consecrated to Saint John the Baptist. Its first monks came from the monastery of Acoemetae.

With three naves and a gallery, Ayios Ioannes (John the Baptist) church was completed between 454 and 463. Having been represented in the seventh ecumenical in spite of the compulsions in 787 demonstrates that the monastery, which was closed because of iconoclast influence in 754 and whose hermits were sent to exile, was still strong and functioning. During the Abbacy period of the priest Theodore between in years 798 and 826, the monastery became a dazzling centre of the Christian world.

The Stoudites gave the first proof of their devotion to the Orthodox Faith during the schism of Acacius (484-519); they also remained loyal during the storms of iconoclastic dispute in the eighth and ninth centuries. They were driven from the monastery and the city by Emperor Constantine V (r. 741-775); after his death however, some of them returned.

Hegumenos (abbot) Sabas of Stoudios zealously defended the Orthodox doctrines against the Iconoclasts at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (787). His successor was Theodore the Studite to whom the monastery owes most of its fame, and who especially fostered academic and spiritual study. During St. Theodore's administration also the monks were harassed and driven away several times, some of them being put to death.

At the same time, the number of priests reached 700 in parallel with the growth of the monastery. Archpriest Theodore did not approbate Emperor VI Archpriest Theodore, who returned along with other priests exiled in 812, supported the silent march of the priests carrying icons in 815 and this was the most important reason for him being eviled again. Theodore died in the Akritas Monastery in 826, to where he had been exiled.

Theodore's pupil, Naukratios, re-established discipline after the Iconoclastic dispute had come to an end. Hegumenos Nicholas (848-845 and 855-858) refused to recognize the Patriarch St. Photios and was on this account imprisoned in his own monastery. He was succeeded by five abbots who recognized the patriarch. The brilliant period of the Stoudios came to an end at this time.

In the middle of the eleventh century, during the administration of Abbot Simeon, a monk named Niketas Stethatos, a disciple of Symeon the New Theologian, criticized some customs of the Latin Church in two books which he wrote on the use of unleavened bread, the Sabbath, and the marriage of priests.

As regards the intellectual life of the monastery in other directions, it is especially celebrated for its famous school of calligraphy which was established by Theodore. The art of manuscript illumination was cultivated, with many brilliant products of the monastic scriptorium now residing in Venice, Vatican City, and Moscow.

In the eighth and eleventh centuries, the monastery was the centre of Byzantine religious poetry; a number of the hymns are still used in the Orthodox Church. Besides Theodore and Niketas, a number of other theological writers are known. Three of the Stoudite monks rose to become the ecumenical patriarchs; and three emperors - Michael V (r. 1041-1042), Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071-1078), and Isaac I Komnenos (r. 1057-1059) - took monastic vows in the Stoudion.

Theodore was buried to Büyükada. After the Iconoclast Period, Theodore was brought from Büyükada and buried in the Studios Monastery in 844. Emperor Michael V was arrested, blinded and castrated by a mob although he took refuge in the monastery in 1042. Emperor Isaac I in 1059 and Dukas VII in 1078 were cloistered in the monastery after they had abdicated. The head of John the Baptist, brought to the monastery in the 10th century, is one of the most important relics stolen during the Latin occupation.

The monastery, renovated by Emperor Konstantinus Palaiologos in 1293 after the Crusader destruction, remained effective during 14th and 15th centuries, and many books, which were copied, were sent to Russia. Kasım, son of Sultan Beyazıt, who was a guest in the Byzantine Palace, was buried in the monastery when he died during a plague disaster in 1417. It was written in some references that Prince Kasım converted to Christianity just before he died. The church was named after Imrahor İlyas Bey (Emir Ahır) after it was converted into a mosque in 1486.

In 1204, the monastery was destroyed by the Crusaders and was not fully restored until 1290, by Constantine Palaiologos. The Russian pilgrims Anthony (c. 1200) and Stephen (c. 1350) were amazed by the size of the monastic grounds. It is thought that the cloister sheltered as much as 700 monks at the time. The greater part of the monastery was again destroyed when the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453.

The only part to survive into the 20th century was the Cathedral of St. John Baptist, probably the oldest remaining church in Istanbul, a 5th-century basilica which was converted by Sultan Bayezid II's equerry into the mosque İmrahor Camii (literally, Mosque of the Stablemaster). The ancient structure sustained grave damage from the great fires of 1782 and 1920; the 1894 Istanbul earthquake also contributed to its ruin.

In addition, Imrahor Ilyas Bey built a bath and shops as the foundation for the mosque in Langa. Nazperver Kadın, one of the harem treasurers of Sultan Selim III, repaired the damage caused by the Samatya fire dated 1782 between 1804 and 1805. The monastery, which was damaged during the earthquake of 1894 and whose dome collapsed in 1908, was abandoned after the fire of 1920. The bath in Langa, which was a foundation, was destroyed in 1923.

Following the earthquake, a group of Russian Byzantinist scholars, led by Fyodor Uspensky, opened the Russian Archaeological Institute on the monastery grounds, but its activity was suppressed in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917. During the subsequent decades, the ruins of the monastery complex were looted by local inhabitants to repair their houses, while the magnificent 13th century pavement still lies open to elements "and disappears slowly but steadily".

The monastery was destroyed as it had been used as a quarry during the 15th century for the construction within Topkapı Palace. Many documents and books were translated and protected in the monastery during centuries. Many chants of Orthodox Church were composed by Archpriest Theodore and his brother Patriarch Josephos of Salonika as well as the psalmody developed in Studios Monastery. The monks were called sleepless (akometoi) because of their conducting religious ceremonies day and night continuously.

Studios monastery where welcoming ceremonies were organized for Byzantine emperors after passing the Golden Gate. The first scientific studies regarding the monastery were undertaken by the Russian Archaeological Institute under A. Pancenko between in years 1908 and 1909.

In a move that has attracted significant criticism and controversy, the St John Stoudios (Imrahor) Monastery in Turkey, the largest Byzantine monastery in Istanbul, will be converted into a mosque and its name changed to the İmrahor İlyas Bey Mosque.

The Monastery of Stoudios, also known as the İmrahor Monument, was built in 462 AD and is one of the oldest surviving monasteries in the country.  Historically, it was the most important monastery of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul), the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its laws and customs were used as models by the monks of Mount Athos in Greece and many other monasteries of the Orthodox world.

“I wouldn’t like to speak as a member of a council but my personal opinion is that cultural heritage shouldn’t be reflected as an antagonistic heritage. If we reflect it like this, it will damage societies on a macro level,” said Laki Vingas, acting as representatives of the Directorate General of Foundations. Vingas added: “My personal view is that when you are trying to create a new vision you should be careful not to create new problems for the future.”

The monastery is currently in a state of ruin and the conversion will take place after it is restored.  The renovation of the building, follows the same fate as that of other churches in Trabzon and İznik, which have already been turned into mosques. The conversion of a building from the worship of one religion to the worship of another religion has attracted significant controversy over the centuries.

Many believe that a place of worship should be retained for its original purpose and historical significance, while others maintain that if a building is in ruin and unused it is better to be restored and used for another religion than to be left to rot. The conversion of non-Muslim places of worship into mosques occurred primarily during the life of Muhammad and continued during subsequent Islamic conquests and under historical Muslim rule.

The cistern with 24 granite columns, erected in 463, near to the church, measures 26 x 19 meters. The distance between the cistern’s columns is 3.9 - 3.45 meters. The wall thickness is 1.6 meters and its vaults collapsed during the earthquake of 1894. The holy spring, close to the cistern, measures 5.2 x 7.45 meters and it is now used as a workshop.

As a result, numerous Hindu temples, churches, synagogues, the Parthenon and Zoroastrian temples were converted into mosques. Several such mosques in Muslim or ex-Muslim lands have since reverted or become museums, such as the Hagia Sophia in Turkey and numerous mosques in Spain. However, Muslims are not the only ones to carry out such conversions. There were many occasions of non-Christian places of worship being converted into churches in the early history of Christianity, which continued during subsequent Christian conquests and Christianization, many involving the destruction of pagan temples.

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YERALTI MOSQUE

Karaköy, Beyoğlu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'20.7"N 28°58'35.8"E / 41.022417, 28.976611



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Yealtı Mosque (Kurşunlu Mahzen Camii) is a mosque that was constructed almost below the street level. It is located at the neighbourhood of Karaköy very close to the pier at the mouth of the Golden Horn. This quite unique structure suggests that the Yeraltı Cami had been part of what remained from the Galata Castle - presumably a large basement room, used as a cellar or a depot- that used to be located at the southern side of the Golden Horn right opposite to the walled city of Constantinople during the Byzantine period.

The Galata Castle used to hold one end of a huge chain all the way across the sea to the other side at the city walls, which was used by the Byzantines in order to prevent ships from entering the Golden Horn when the city was under siege. Part of that chain that has survived is being exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul.

The Yeralti Mosque is the basement of a former Byzantine fortress. It was once a prison. The mosque appears tentatively at first from behind a nondescript facade on a busy street. Inside its walls, the ceiling hovers seven feet above the subterranean ground level and imposing rectangular columns obstruct and cut their own private nooks of worship. It is an anomaly in a culture of communal praying that appreciates the spiritual accommodations of open spaces. It has the constancy of a quiet, cavernous darkness.

Often called the Underground Mosque because it's buried beneath a 19th-century wooden mansion, the low, vaulted interior is supported by 54 columns, built on the remains of the Byzantine castle of Galata, which guarded the entrance to the Golden Horn.

From here, a great chain was stretched across the waterway, blocking access to enemy ships in times of siege. The upper part of the castle was demolished following the Ottoman conquest, and the remaining lower floor - formerly a prison - was converted to a mosque in 1757. Unlike any other mosque in the city, Yeralti Camii is housed underground in a crypt belonging to what was once The Castle of Galata. Entry to the Golden Horn was controlled from here during Byzantine times, and it is thought that the giant chain which prevented unwanted ships from passing through the waterway used to be anchored here.

According to the legend Sultan Mehmet II, the conqueror of Constantinople, used very large trees upon which he dragged his boats from land through the area of Galata in order to move his boats from the Bosporus Sea to the Golden Horn, bypassing the Byzantines’ chain.

During the Ottoman Period the abandoned castle was partially destroyed, until the mid seventeenth century when the tombs of two Arab sainted martyrs were revealed and Sultan Murat IV ordered the construction of the shrine in 1640 which finally was turned to a mosque in the following century. It said that the martyrs died there during the first siege of the city by the Arabs in the seventh century AD.

The building was converted into a mosque in 1757 by the Grand Vezir Köşe Mustafa Paşa. Inside, there are a series of columns supporting low vaulted ceilings to allow for private prayer space. The tombs of two Arab soldiers are situated in a side chapel, enclosed inside a glass case. The tombs of Abu Sufyan and Amiri Vahibi, who were believed to have died here as martyrs between 672 and 677 BC during the siege of İstanbul by the Arabs, are here.

The Yeraltı Cami is a quite unique structure and a rare kind of a mosque in Turkey. It has a low ceiling which stands on fifty four thick columns with low vaults, which divide the mosque in narrow passages and small praying places. The mihrab on the Eastern side of the mosque is not at the centre of the wall but right at the end of one of these smaller passages, something that adds to the exceptionality of the Yeraltı Cami.

Evliya Çelebi says the castle was damaged and some parts of it were destroyed during the reign of Beyazid II in an earthquake called "the Little Apocalypse". It is not known whether his statements are true but it is a known fact that the castle / Mahzen-i Sultani (the Imperial Granary) is not depicted in neither of the drawings of Matrakçı Nasuhi dated 1573 and nor in Hünername dating back 1584.

Registered under the name of "the Lead-covered Store" in the official records of the 15th and 16th centuries, we also find out that remaining part of the castle was once used as the Grand Customs Office. The building, which most probably served as the warehouse for the imported goods brought to the city were stored and traded, was subsequently renewed with the removal of the new customs office on its place.

The Lead-covered Granary Pavilion, one of the most beautiful sights of the Turkish civilian architecture, is the Customs Office which was constructed on the grounds of the larger bastion of the castle. The engraving by John Lewis dated 1836 brings back the sensational sight of the pavilion to us. There is also another picture taken from the Tower of Galata showing the back side of the Lead-covered Granary Pavilion.

The multi-footed granary situated at the basement floor level of the Lead-covered Granary Pavilion, which was constructed on the remainings of the tower section, is also the source of a legend. After a war in 714 AD, some high officials of the Ummayan Dynasty became martyr around the granary during the siege and were buried there along with Müslime / Mesleme, the commender-in-chief to the army, and, rumour has it that the gate of that section was closed down with a lead-cast seal while the army was marching back to Damascus.

It is probably becouse of this rumour that the building became known as "the Leaded Granary" by public, although it was documented under "Mahsen-i Sultani", the Imperial Granary, in the official records. It is also among many other rumours that the graves of these Sahabes (the companions related by blood to the Prophet Muhammed) were ascertained in a dream by a Nakhshibendi Sheik, and thus recognized as a Holy Place in 17th century.

During the Ottoman Period the abandoned castle was partially destroyed, until the mid seventeenth century when the tombs of two Arab sainted martyrs were revealed and Sultan Murat IV ordered the construction of the shrine which finally was turned to a mosque in the following century. It said that the martyrs died there during the first siege of the city by the Arabs in the seventh century AD.

Although Sultan Murad IV (1623-1640) projected a mosque just next to the graves, it was never carried out. About a century later, Köse Mustafa Bahir Paşa of Çorlu had the granary building cleaned and reorganized to serve as a mosque. It is due to this fact that the mosque was presented as though it had been granted by Sultan Mahmud I in the long inscribed stone panel over the gate dating H. 1166 (1752 AD).

We see that the cone-shaped minaret underwent some particular changes within years, yet we still do not know from which date on it was called "the Underground Mosque". In a photograph dating 1854, the minaret which appears in a long and thin lead conical shape, looks in a fairly different shape in another photograph taken in 1868. Renovated begining from the şerefe (narrow, circular balcony surrounding a minaret), the wooden stilts and hanging fringes of its şerefe present a unique sight to us.

The former lead-cone was replaced with a maceshaped hood. We see in a latter photograph taken in early 1900s that the hood was once again changed with a relatively smaller, stubby lead cone. Considering the various sights of the minaret, it can be said that the building often underwent some repairs and changes within years. Situated on the same level with Kemeraltı Caddesi and supporting a two storey wooden building used as the General Health Directorate of Boundries and Coasts, the Underground Mosque has an orderly rectangular plan.

It is hard to have an idea about the exterior of the mosque as it was surrounded by some various buildings. Even the minaret is hardly seen because of the neighbouring tall buildings. The entrance to the building is on the facade looking to Kemeraltı Caddesi. The main entrance gate with a space is situated in the central axis of the building; the last open space on the left side of the facade is mainly used for entries.

A niche is placed ahead of the window just on the left side of the main entrance, and, to the left of it on the end space is located a small, lowered wooden pulpit. Daylight gets into the mosque through these three windows on this facade and the entrance door was fitted up later on. The other two entrances to the mosque open up presently to Karantina Sokak and they are the doors that are used by climbing the stairs inside the building. Independently built in the shape of squared-sections from the walls are there 45 steps covered with cross pendentives.

It is almost impossible to comprehend the overall space of the mosque due to the fact that the interior is almost as big as the size of the pedestals. Inside the mosque are three holy persons, tombs, attributed namely to Amr Bin As (573-663), Vehb Bin Hüseyre and Süfyan Bin Üyeyne. Süfyan Bin Üyeyne lies in the main section facing the south of the mosque where a small open space is serving as an entrance; Amr Bin As and Vehb Bin Hüseyre lie side by side in the space adjoining the south wing section of the building and leading to Karantina Sokak.

Renovated recently, the mosque presents a spatial dissimilarity with the other mosques in our heritage. Being one of the most beautiful examples of utilizing a 1500 years old castle remained from a fortrees and conforming it to your own belief in harmony, the Underground Mosquee is one of the most original buildings that must seen by us all.

On the right side as we enter the mosque from the northern entrance are located the two tombs of the Arab martyrs. The interior of the mosque is not decorated and the columns are painted with a plain white colour. However, the low light of the mosque combined with its unique structure creates a very interesting atmosphere.

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