Church-Mosque of Vefa

Church-Mosque of Vefa is a former Eastern Orthodox church converted into a mosque by the Ottomans in Istanbul. The complex represents one of the most important examples of Comnenian and Palaiologan architecture of Constantinople.

The church was erected in the 10th or the 11th centuries. During the Latin domination of Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade the edifice was used as a Roman Catholic church. Shortly after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, the church became a mosque, founded by the famous Kurdish scholar Molla Gürâni. The mosque is also named after him. In the 19th century the mosque was badly damaged, possibly by the fire which in 1833 ravaged the surrounding quarter. In 1848 the complex was restored: in that occasion the mosaics which adorned the building were largely destroyed. In 1937, the building underwent a partial restoration, and its surviving mosaics were uncovered and cleaned.

Address
Tirendaz Sokak 1/2, Istanbul, Turkey

Established
10th century AD