| Zeyrek Mosque | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The mosque viewed from north east. From left to right, one can see the apses of theChurch of Christ Pantocrator, theImperial Chapel and theChurch of the Theotokos Eleousa. | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Sunni Islam |
| Year consecrated | Shortly after 1453 |
| Location | |
| Location | Istanbul,Turkey |
  Location in the Fatih district of Istanbul | |
| Coordinates | 41°1′11″N28°57′26″E / 41.01972°N 28.95722°E /41.01972; 28.95722 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Church withcross-in-square plan |
| Style | Middle Byzantine - Comnenian |
| Groundbreaking | Between 1118 and 1124 |
| Completed | Before 1136 |
| Materials | Brick |
 Interactive map of Zeyrek Mosque | |
| Part of | Historic Areas of Istanbul |
| Criteria | Cultural: i, ii, iii, iv |
| Reference | 356 |
| Inscription | 1985 (9thSession) |
Zeyrek Mosque (Turkish:Zeyrek Camii) or theMonastery of thePantokrator (Greek:Μονή του Παντοκράτορος Χριστού;Turkish:Pantokrator Manastırı), is a largemosque on the Fazilet Street in theZeyrek district ofFatih inIstanbul, overlooking theGolden Horn. It is made up of two formerByzantine churches and achapel joined together and represents the best example ofMiddle Byzantine architecture inConstantinople. AfterHagia Sophia, it is the largest Byzantine religious edifice still standing in Istanbul.[1]
It is less than 1 km to the southeast ofEski Imaret Mosque, another Byzantine church that was turned into a mosque.
East of the complex is an OttomanKonak which has been restored and opened as a restaurant and tea garden called Zeyrekhane.
Between 1118 and 1124 theByzantine EmpressIrene of Hungary built amonastery on this site dedicated toChrist Pantokrator (Christ the Omnipotent).[2] The monastery consisted of achurch (which became thekatholikon, or main church, of the monastery[3]) also dedicated to Christ Pantokrator, a library and a hospital.[4]
After the death of his wife, shortly after 1134, EmperorJohn II Komnenos built another church to the north of the first one which was dedicated to theTheotokosEleousa (Merciful Mother of God). This church was open to the population and served by a lay clergy.[3] By 1136 at the latest a southern courtyard and anexonarthex were added to the complex,[3] and the two shrines were connected with a chapel dedicated toSaint Michael,[5] which became the imperial mausoleum (heroon) of theKomnenos andPalaiologos dynasties.[2] Besides many other Byzantine dignitaries, the Emperor John II and his wife Eirene, and EmpressBertha of Sulzbach (also known as Eirene), the wife ofManuel I Komnenos, were buried here.[4][dubious –discuss]
During the period ofLatin domination after theFourth Crusade in 1204, the complex fell into the hands of theVenetian clergy, and anicon of theTheotokosHodegetria was housed here.[6] The monastery was also used as an imperial palace by the lastLatin Emperor,Baldwin.
After thePalaiologan restoration, the monastery was once again used by Orthodox monks. The most famous of them wasGennadius II Scholarius, who left the Pantokrator to become the first Patriarch of Constantinople after the Muslim conquest of the city in 1453.[7]
Shortly after theFall of Constantinople the main church was converted into a mosque, while the monastery served for a while as amedrese.[8] TheOttomans named it after Molla Zeyrek, a scholar who taught there.[8] However, because of its importance to Byzantine history, Zeyrek was one of the few buildings ofConstantinople whose old denomination was never forgotten and was written about by foreign visitors including the French travellerPierre Gilles who described it in his book about Constantinople, written in the sixteenth century. After the completion of the medreses in theFatih complex in 1471, Muslim students abandoned Zeyrek,[9] and the rooms once occupied by the school vanished.[4]
By the early 21st century the edifice had become very rundown and partly ruinous as a result of which it was added to theUNESCO watchlist of endangered monuments. Extensive and sometimes controversial restoration has now been completed and the mosque reopened for prayer.[10][11]
Themasonry has been partly built using therecessed brick technique typical of the Byzantine architecture of the middle period.[12] In this technique, alternate courses of bricks are mounted behind the line of the wall in amortar bed. The thickness of the mortar layers is about three times greater than that of the brick layers.[13]
The south and the north churches are both cross-shaped with centraldomes and polygonalapses with seven sides rather than the five that had been typical in the Byzantine architecture of the previous century. The apses also feature triplelancet windows flanked byniches.[2]
The southern church is the largest. To the east, it has anesonarthex, which was eventually extended right up to the imperial chapel. The church is surmounted by two domes, one over thenaos and the other over thematroneum (a separate upper gallery for women) of thenarthex. Once very rich, the decoration of the church has disappeared almost completely, bar some marble fragments in thepresbyterium. The historicalopus sectile floor made from coloured marble worked in acloisonné technique, with human and animal figures represented, is currently covered by a modern carpet. Fragments of coloured glass found here suggest that the windows were once filled withstained glass with figures of saints.[14] Mosaics representing the apostles and the life of Christ were still visible - although defaced - in the 18th century.[15]
The imperial chapel is covered bybarrel vaults and surmounted by two domes.
The north church has only one dome, and is notable for thefrieze carved with dog's tooth and triangle motifs running along theeaves.
Near the mosque is theŞeyh Süleyman Mescidi, a small Byzantine building that probably belonged to the Pantokrator Monastery. It may have housed a library, although that is not certain.
In its entirety, this monastic complex is the best example ofMiddle Byzantine architecture to survive in Istanbul[2]
