Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque ( tr, Hırami Ahmet Paşa Mescidi) 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 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, ...

. The small church, one among the 36 dedicated to

Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

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 (" ...

, was part of a monastery bearing the same name. Its full name was

Saint John the Forerunner John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

by-the-Dome ( el, , ''Hagios Ioannis ho Prodromos en tō Trullō''). It is the smallest

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

church of

still extant and has never been studied.

Location

The building lies 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 ...

, 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 ...

, in the neighborhood of

Çarşamba Çarşamba is a town and district (ilçe) of Samsun Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, in the center of the Çarşamba Plain. It is the second largest district of the Samsun province after Bafra. The mayor is Halit Doğan ( AKP). Ferhan ...

, one of the most (

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

ic) conservative areas of the walled city. It is located in Koltutçu Sokak, along a small square, surrounded by new buildings, less than to the south of the complex of the Pammakaristos.

History

Nothing is known about this church before the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The appellation "troullos" (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''trullus'',

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

'' trullo'',

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

) probably comes from a

-roofed palace that used to be in the neighborhood.Van Millingen (1912), p. 202. The style of construction dates the building to the 12th century. When the

Patriarchate Patriarchate ( grc, πατριαρχεῖον, ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were est ...

was moved from the

Church of the Holy Apostles The Church of the Holy Apostles ( el, , ''Agioi Apostoloi''; tr, Havariyyun Kilisesi), also known as the ''Imperial Polyándreion'' (imperial cemetery), was a Byzantine Eastern Orthodox church in Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman E ...

to that of Pammakaristos between 1454 and 1456,

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in c ...

Gennadios displaced some nuns who were living in the monastery of Pammacharistos to the small nunnery of Troullos, which was probably founded on this occasion. At the end of the 16th century, during the reign of Sultan Murat III, ''Hırami Amet

Pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignita ...

'', formerly Agha of the Jannissaries, converted the church of the Pammakaristos into a mosque. He did the same with the church of Saint John, closing the nunnery and expelling the nuns. This should have occurred between 1587 or 1588 (the years of the conversion of Pammakaristos) and 1598, the year of his death.Müller-Wiener (1977), p. 146. The small building had gone to ruin by the beginning of the 20th century. It was carefully restored and reopened to Islamic worship in 1961.

Architecture

The building is built of

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

made with bricks and stone. It has a

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 ...

plan surmounted by a

, with a

bema A bema was an elevated platform used as an orator's podium in ancient Athens. The term can refer to the raised area in a sanctuary. In Jewish synagogues, where it is used for Torah reading during services, the term used is bima or bimah. Ancien ...

divided in three parts and a

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 ...

. It is only long, included the narthex.Janin (1953), p. 457. The arms of the cross to the north and south are covered with barrel vaults, and the interior is lighted by triple windows. Four columns with

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

sustain an octagonal

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

, which bears the dome. The three

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''. ...

s are semicircular. The central apse projects outside, and is opened by a large window, divided in three parts by two pillars with capitals.Van Millingen (1912), p. 204. The

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 ...

has been reused as

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla ...

of the mosque. The prothesis is surmounted by a

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 ...

. The mosque has no

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 ...

. Before restoration, the building was in a very bad condition: the narthex was almost completely ruined, the columns had disappeared, and the paintings were barely visible.Janin (1953), p. 457. The four missing columns have been replaced with ancient ones, whose origin is unknown.Müller-Wiener (1977), p. 145. The edifice has never been the subject of a systematic study. File:Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque 6184.jpg, Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque exterior File:Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque 9729.jpg, Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque exterior File:Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque 9731.jpg, Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque exterior File:Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque6 180.jpg, Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque exterior File:Ahmet Pasha Mosque 6178.jpg, Ahmet Pasha Mosque exterior detail File:Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque 6179.jpg, Ahmet Pasha Mosque exterior detail File:Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque 6182.jpg, Ahmet Pasha Mosque exterior detail File:Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque 9732.jpg, Ahmet Pasha Mosque column File:Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque 9733.jpg, Ahmet Pasha Mosque column Interior of Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque I, 2019-07-10.jpg, Mosque interior 1/4 Interior of Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque II, 2019-07-10.jpg, Mosque interior 2/4 Interior of Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque III, 2019-07-10.jpg, Mosque interior 3/4 Interior of Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque IV, 2019-07-10.jpg, Mosque interior 4/4

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Byzantium 1200 - Saint John the Baptist en to Trullo

Series of pictures of the mosque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Istanbul, Hirami Ahmet Pasha 12th-century mosques Hirami Ahmet Pasha Fatih