| Gül Mosque Gül Câmîi | |
|---|---|
Mosque6.jpg) | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Sunni Islam |
| Year consecrated | Late 10th-century church; converted into mosque 1490 |
| Location | |
| Location | Istanbul,Turkey |
  Located in the Fatih district of Istanbul | |
| Coordinates | 41°01′36.00″N28°57′23.40″E / 41.0266667°N 28.9565000°E /41.0266667; 28.9565000 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | church withcross-in-square plan |
| Style | Middle Byzantine - Comnenian |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 26 m |
| Width | 20 m |
| Minaret | 1 |
| Materials | brick, stone |
Gül Mosque (Turkish:Gül Camii, meaning Rose Mosque' inEnglish) is a formerByzantinechurch inIstanbul,Turkey, converted into amosque by theOttomans.
It is in Vakıf Mektebi Sokak in the district ofFatih,Istanbul, in the neighbourhood ofAyakapı ('Gate of the Saint'). It lies at the end of the valley which divides the fourth and fifth hills of Constantinople and overlooks theGolden Horn from its imposing position .[1]
Although the Gül Mosque was one of the most importantByzantine buildings inConstantinople, its dedication and the date of its construction have been disputed by scholars. It is sometimes identified with the church belonging to the nunnery ofSaint Theodosia (Greek: Μονή τής Άγιας Θεοδοσίας εν τοις Δεξιοκράτους,Monē tis Hagias Theodosias en tois Dexiokratous) or with that of the monastery ofChrist the Benefactor (Greek: Μονή του Χριστού του Ευεργέτου,Monē tou Christou tou Euergetou).[2]
After Stephan Gerlach visited it in the late 15th century, the building was always identified as the church ofHagia Theodosia en tois Dexiokratous. However, at the beginning of the last century, Jules Pargoire identified it instead as the church ofHagia Euphēmia en tō Petriō, built during the reign ofBasil I (867–886), and explained why he thought this was the case. After studies aimed at the dating of the basement in the 1960s, the German archaeologist Hartmut Schäfer estimated the date of the church's construction as between the end of the eleventh and the first half of the 12th century, placing it in theKomnenian period, and identifying it hypothetically as the church of the monastery ofChristos Euergetēs.[3][4] He refuted the idea that the Gül Mosque was the building where the body ofHagia Theodosia was brought at the end of theIconoclasm period.[5] On the other hand, he did not exclude the possibility that the building could have been dedicated to Hagia Theodosia at a later period.[6]
On January 19, 729, at the very beginning of theiconoclastic persecutions,EmperorLeo III the Isaurian ordered the removal of an image ofChrist which stood over theChalkē, the main gate of theGreat Palace of Constantinople.[7][8] While an officer was executing the order, a group of women gathered to prevent the operation, and one of them, anun namedTheodosia, caused him to fall from the ladder. The man died, and Theodosia was captured and executed.[9]
After the end of the Iconoclasm era, Theodosia was recognized as amartyr andsaint, and her body was kept and venerated in the church ofHagia Euphemia en tō Petriō, in the quarter namedDexiokratiana, after the houses owned here by one Dexiokrates.[10] The church and adjoining monastery were erected by EmperorBasil I at the end of the ninth century. The monastery hosted his four daughters, who were all buried in the church. Hagia Euphemia lay near theMonastery ofChristos Euergetēs, whose foundation date is unknown although it was restored byprotosebastos John Komnenos, son ofAndronikos I Komnenos and brother of co-emperor John, who died fighting in thebattle of Myriokephalon in 1176.[3] On April 12, 1204, during theFourth Crusade, the Latin fleet gathered in front of the monastery of Christos Euergetes before attacking the city.[3] During the period of theLatin occupation, the navy had its anchorage in front of the monastery. Many sacredrelics kept in the church were looted by theCrusaders and some still exist in churches throughout western Europe.[3]
Over time, the veneration of St Theodosia grew until, after the 11th century, the church was renamed after her. Since the originalfeast day of Hagia Euphemia was on 30 May, and that of another Hagia Theodosia (Hagia Theodosia ofTyros) was on 29 May, 29 May came to be accepted as the feast day ofHagia Theodosia hē Konstantinoupolitissa ('Saint Theodosia of Constantinople').[11]
Hagia Theodosia became one of the most venerated saints in Constantinople, being invoked particularly by the infirm. Her fame increased when a deaf-mute was miraculously cured in 1306.[10] The church was often mentioned by theRussian pilgrims who visited the city in the fourteenth and early fifteenth century, although it was sometimes confused with the nearby church of Christ Euergetēs.[12] Twice a week there was aprocession during which the relics hosted in the church were carried and a crowd of sick people followed, praying to be cured.
The church was mentioned for the last time on May 28, 1453. On that day, which was the eve both of the saint's feast and also of theend of the Byzantine Empire, the EmperorConstantine XI went with thePatriarch to pray in the church, which was adorned with garlands of roses. Afterward Constantine left for the last fight before the city fell to the Ottomans .[7] Many people remained all the night in the church, praying for the city's salvation. After entering the city, the Ottoman troops arrived to find the building still adorned with flowers, hence, it is thought to have been called "Rose Mosque".
After theOttoman conquest, the basement of the church fell into ruin[13] and was used asnaval dockyard. Close to the building,Seyhülislam Molla Hüsrev Mehmet Effendi (died 1480) established avakıf (foundation) and erected a small mosque (Küçük Mustafa Paşa Mescidi) and abath (Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hamamı), which still exists.[14]
In 1490, the ruined church was repaired and converted into a mosque.[14] During the reign ofSelim II,[14] between 1566 and 1574, aminaret was erected by HassamPasha, a supplier to theOttoman navy. Afterwards the mosque was often named after him.[15] Between 1573 and 1578, during his sojourn in Istanbul, the German preacher Stephan Gerlach visited the mosque and identified it with the church of Hagia Theodosia. During that century a local holy man named Gül Baba was allegedly buried in the building.[16] It is possible that the mosque was actually named after him.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the upper part of the church-mosque was badly damaged by earthquakes. Eventually SultanMurad IV restored it, rebuilding the dome and its pendentives, almost the whole west side, the vaults at the southwest and northwest corners, and the minaret.[17]
The building escaped the fire which ravaged the quarter in 1782, and was restored again by SultanMahmud II (1808–1839), who added the wooden Sultan's lodge.[17]
The exterior of the building is quite imposing. It stands on a highvaulted basement, which was used during the Byzantine period for secular purposes. Themasonry of the basement has been built using the technique of the "recessed brick", typical of the Byzantine architecture of the middle period. In this technique, alternate courses of bricks are mounted behind the line of the wall, and are plunged in amortar bed which means that the thickness of the mortar layers is about three times greater than that of the brick layers.[18]
The building has aGreek cross plan, which is oriented northwest-southeast. It is 26 metres (85 feet) long and 20 metres (66 feet) wide, and is surmounted by fivedomes, one above the central nave and four smaller ones placed at the four corners.[19] The central dome, which has a low external drum and no windows, is Ottoman, as are the broad pointed arches which carry it.
The original dome, like that of theKalenderhane Mosque, should have been carried by a tall drum pierced by windows.[20] On the southeastern façade, the central apse, with seven sides, and the lateral apses, with three sides, project boldly outwards. The central apse appears to be a later Byzantine reconstruction, since it lacks the four tiers of fiveniches, which feature ornamentalbrickwork and adorn the lateral ones.[19] Above the niches runs a cornice.
The side apses resemble those of thePantokrator Church and support a late dating for the building.
The entrance to the mosque is through a woodenporch, which leads to a lownarthex surmounted by abarrel vault. From there a triple arcade leads into the lofty nave, which is flanked by galleries forming the side arms of the cross. They rest on a triple arcade supported by square piers. The nave ends with the mainapse, which is flanked by two smaller ones. The south-east orientation of the main apse allowed the erection of themihrab inside it.
Each gallery ends with a small chapel, which lie above theprothesis anddiaconicon respectively. Both chapels are surmounted by hemispherical domes built directly above thependentives.[19] Light enters the building through five rows of windows, three belonging to the galleries. Some of the windows are Ottoman.
Carved inside each of the two eastern dome piers there is a small chamber. The south east chamber contains the alleged tomb of the Ottoman holy man Gül Baba. Above the entrance an inscription inOttoman Turkish reads: "Tomb of theApostle, disciple of Jesus. Peace be with him", which bears witness to the religioussyncretism of sixteenth-century Istanbul.[21] The chamber may originally have housed the tomb of St Theodosia. A tradition that one of the piers hides the burial place of the last Byzantine Emperor only dates back to the nineteenth century, and is groundless.[17]
The walls of the building were plastered and decorated in the 18th century.
Together with theEski Imaret andVefa Kilise Mosques, the Gül Mosque is one of the most importantcross-in-square churches inIstanbul.[22]
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