Church mosque (Vefa)

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The church building (right) and the exonarthex (left) seen from the south

The church mosque of Vefa ( German  for Vefa Kilise Câmii , also known as Molla Gürani Camii , mostly just called Kilise Camii in Byzantine art history ) is an Orthodox church that was converted into a mosque after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Molla Gürani . It was previously identified with a church consecrated to St. Theodore, but this is completely unproven. The building is considered to be one of the most important examples of the Komnenen and palaeologic architecture of Constantinople .

location

The church mosque building is located in Istanbul 's Fatih district , in the Vefa district, a few hundred meters south of the Suleymaniye Mosque .

history

The exonarthex seen from the southeast - 19th century image
The south dome of the exonarthex with remains of the mosaic, the faces modernly smeared

The history of the building erected on a slope of the third hill of Constantinople is not certain. Looking at the masonry, it was built between the 11th and 12th centuries, during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos . It is uncertain that the church was dedicated to Hagios Theodoros. During the Latin occupation in the course of the Fourth Crusade , the building became Roman Catholic for some time .

Immediately after the fall of Constantinople, the church was converted into a mosque. The famous Kurdish mullah Molla Gürani, who worked as tutor of Sultan Mehmed II and soon became the Mufti of Istanbul, is considered to be the founder of the mosque . The mosque subsequently bore his name. In 1833 a fire destroyed the wooden extensions. In 1937 the building was partially restored. The remaining mosaics were exposed and cleaned, but in recent years some (faces) have been smeared with concrete again.

Web links

Commons : Church Mosque of Vefa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Horst Hallensleben : To the annex buildings of Kilise camiiı in Istanbul. In: Istanbuler Mitteilungen 15, 1965, pp. 208-217.
  • Marcell Restle : Reclam's art guide Istanbul, Bursa, Edirne, Iznik. Architectural monuments and museums , Verlag Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1976, pp. 179–182.
  • Wolfgang Müller-Wiener : Pictorial dictionary on the topography of Istanbul , Wasmuth, Tübingen 1977, pp. 169–171 (with older literature)

Coordinates: 41 ° 0 ′ 58.6 ″  N , 28 ° 57 ′ 37.1 ″  E