Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque ( tr, Atik Mustafa Paşa Camii; more commonly known as ''Hazreti Cabir Camii'') is a former
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
church in
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, converted into a mosque by the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
. In Çember Sokak in the neighbourhood of
Ayvansaray
Ayvansaray is a picturesque neighbourhood on the Golden Horn in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey, between Balat and Eyüp. It lies inside what was the walled city on Constantinople and later of İstanbul and corresponds to the old quarter ...
, in the district of
Fatih
Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the co ...
, Istanbul, it lies just inside the
walled city at a short distance from the
Golden Horn
The Golden Horn ( tr, Altın Boynuz or ''Haliç''; grc, Χρυσόκερας, ''Chrysókeras''; la, Sinus Ceratinus) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with t ...
, at the foot of the sixth hill of
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
.
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
Blachernae ( gkm, Βλαχέρναι) was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. It is the site of a water source and a number of prominent churches were built there, most notably the grea ...
(
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: , ''Hagia Thekla tou Palatiou tōn Vlakhernōn''). Stylistically, it belongs to the eleventh or twelfth century.
History
Towards the middle of the ninth century, Princess
Thekla, the eldest daughter of Emperor
Theophilus
Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...
enlarged a small oratory, dedicated to her patron saint and namesake, lying east of the Church of
Theotokos of the Blachernae.
[Müller-Wiener (1977), p. 83.] In 1059 Emperor
Isaac I Komnenos
Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην� ...
built a larger church on this site, as thanks for surviving a hunting accident.
[Janin (1953), p. 148.] The church was famous for its beauty, and
Anna Comnena
Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...
writes that her mother,
Anna Dalassena, frequently used to 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
Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
) Koca Mustafa Pasha
Koca Mustafa Pasha (died 1512) was an Ottoman statesman. He was grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1511 to 1512.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 13. (Turkish) He was Roman (''Rum' ...
repaired the damage and converted the church into a mosque.
Up to the end of the nineteenth century, a hamam
A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...
, south of the building, formed part of the mosque's foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
. 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 had to be repaired. It was damaged again during the 1894 Istanbul earthquake
The 1894 Istanbul earthquake occurred in the Çınarcık Basin or Gulf of Izmit in the Sea of Marmara on 10 July at 12:24pm. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.0. At least an estimated 1,349 people were killed in towns around the G ...
, which destroyed the minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
, and didn't reopen for worship until 1906. A last restoration occurred in 1922. At that time, a cruciform marble baptismal font found across the street was removed to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum
The Istanbul Archaeology Museums ( tr, ) are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace.
The Istanbul Archaeology Museums consists of three museums:
#Ar ...
.
Inside the apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
of the building is a türbe
''Türbe'' is the Turkish word for "tomb". In Istanbul it is often used to refer to the mausolea of the Ottoman sultans and other nobles and notables.
The word is derived from the Arabic ''turbah'' (meaning ''"soil/ground/earth"''), which ...
(tomb) attributed to Hazreti Cabir (Jabir) Ibn Abdallah-ül-Ensamı, one of the companions of Eyüp
Eyüp () or Eyüpsultan is a district of the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The district extends from the Golden Horn all the way to the shore of the Black Sea. Eyüp is also the name of a prominent neighborhood and former village in the district, l ...
, who fell nearby in 678 during the first Arab siege of Constantinople
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
.[Gülersoy (1976), p. 248.]
Architecture
The building is wide and long, and has a domed Greek cross
The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...
plan. It is oriented in a northeast–southwest direction. It has three polygonal apses, and the narthex
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narth ...
has been destroyed.[Müller-Wiener (1977), p. 82.] There are no galleries, and the dome, which has no drum, is almost certainly Ottoman, although the arches and the piers which support it are Byzantine.[Van Millingen (1912), p. 193.] The arms of the cross, the Pastophoria, the Prothesis and Diaconicon
The diaconicon ( el, διακονικόν, translit=diakonikon; Slavonic: ''diakonik'') is, in Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, the name given to a chamber on the south side of the central apse of the church, where the vestments, b ...
, are covered with barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
s, and joined by arches. The north and south walls have three arcades at floor level, three windows at the first level and a window with three lights at the second level.[ On the southeast side, each of the three apses is three-sided.][ The roof, the cornice and the wooden narthex, which replaced the old Byzantine narthex, are Ottoman.
The dome piers, which form the internal side of the cross, are L-shaped in an example of the stage preceding that of the ]cross-in-square
A cross-in-square or crossed-dome plan was the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine churches. It featured a square centre with an internal structure shaped like a cross, topped by a dome.
The first cross-in-square chu ...
church with four columns. Details of the fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...
es on the south side of the building have been published. During floor renewal in the 1990s, several tesserae
A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus.
Historical tesserae
The oldest known tessera ...
were found, revealing the previous existence of mosaics panels n the building.[Tunay (2001), p. 229]
Despite its architectural significance, the building has never undergone a systematic study.[Unfortunately, in the occasion of the floor renewal, the ''Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüǧü'' ("general directorate for the pious foundations") denied the permission for an archeological survey, which could have clarified many open issues, including that about its dedication. Tunay (2001), p. 229]
Gallery
File:Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 6197.jpg, Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque Exterior
File:Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 9777.jpg, Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque Facade detail
File:Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 9778.jpg, Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque Decoration
File:Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 9772.jpg, Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque Interior
File:Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 6189.jpg, Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 6189
File:Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 4764.jpg, Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 4764
File:Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque 4766.jpg, Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque Türbe
References
Sources
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External links
Byzantium 1200 , Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque
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Religious buildings and structures completed in 1059
11th-century mosques
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1512
18th-century mosques
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Byzantine church buildings in Istanbul
Ottoman mosques in Istanbul
Golden Horn