March 30, 2010 01:15 by
haci1870s image of the mosque viewed from southeast.Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque (Turkish: Atik Mustafa Paşa Camii; also named Hazreti Cabir Camii) is a former Eastern Orthodox church in Istanbul, converted into a mosque by the Ottomans. The dedication of the church is obscure. For a long time it has been identified with the church of Saints Peter and Mark, but without any proof. Now it seems more probable that the church is to be identified with Saint Thekla of the Palace of Blachernae (Greek: Άγία Θέκλα τοῦ Παλατίου τῶν Βλαχερνών, Hagia Thekla tou Palatiou tōn Vlakhernōn). The building belongs stylistically to the eleventh-twelfth century.
Contents
1 Location
2 History
3 Architecture
4 References
5 Sources
6 External links
Location
The building lies in the district of Fatih, in the neighborhood of Ayvansaray, in Çember Sokak. It lies a few hundred meters inside the walled city, at a short distance from the shore of the Golden Horn, at the foot of the sixth hill of Constantinople.
History
Towards the middle of the ninth century, Princess Thekla, eldest daughter of Emperor Theophilus enlarged a small oratory lying 150 m east of the Church of Theotokos of the Blachernae dedicated to her homonymous Saint. In 1059 on this site, Emperor Isaac I Komnenos built a larger church, as thanks for surviving a hunting accident.The church was famous for its beauty, and Anna Comnena writes that her mother, Anna Dalassena, used to go often and pray there.After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, the building was heavily damaged during the earthquake of 1509, which destroyed the dome.Shortly after that, Kapicibaşi(and later Grand Vizier) Koca Mustafa Pasha, executed in 1512,repaired the damages and converted the church into a mosque.Up to the end of nineteenth century, a Hamam, placed 150 m south of the building, also belonged to the mosque's foundation.In 1692, Şatir Hasan Ağa built a fountain in front of the mosque. In 1729, during the great Fire of Balat, the building was heavily damaged and repaired some years later. It was damaged again during the earthquake of 1894, which destroyed the minaret, and reopened for worship in 1906. A last restoration occurred in 1922.In that occasion, a marble christening font was brought to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.Inside the south apse of the building there is the tomb attributed to Hazreti Cabir Ibn Abdallah-ül-Ensamı, one of the companions of Eyüp,fallen nearby in 678 during the first Arab siege of Constantinople.
335c1fbf-478f-4a75-bc5b-7a2bdabe8ff3|0|.0