Church-Mosque of Vefa

Church-Mosque of Vefa
Vefa Kilise Camii
Church-Mosque of Vefa; Vefa Kilise Camii
	The mosque (right) and the exonarthex (left) viewed from the south.
Religion
Affiliation	Sunni Islam
Year consecrated	shortly after 1453
Location
Location	Istanbul, Turkey
	Location in the Fatih district of Istanbul
Geographic coordinates	41°0′59″N 28°57′37″E / 41.01639°N 28.96028°E
Architecture
Type	church with cross-in-square plan
Style	Middle Byzantine - Comnenian
Completed	10th - 11th century
Specifications
Minaret(s)	1
Materials	brick, stone

Church-Mosque of Vefa (Turkish: Vefa Kilise Camii, meaning "the church mosque of Vefa", to distinguish it from the other kilise camiler of Istanbul: also known as Molla Gürani Camii after the name of his founder) is a former Eastern Orthodox church converted into a mosque by the Ottomans in Istanbul. The church was possibly dedicated to Hagios Theodoros (St. Theodore,^[1]^[2] in Greek: Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος ἑν τὰ Καρβουνάρια), but this dedication is far from certain.^[3] The complex represents one of the most important examples of Comnenian and Palaiologan architecture of Constantinople.^[4]

^ To which of the many saints bearing the name Theodore the church was dedicated is not clear. He could be either St. Theodore Tyro, (from Greek ὀ τήρων, mean. "the conscript") or St. Theodore Stratelates ("the general"). A joint dedication could also have been possible. Van Millingen (1912), p. 245
^ Janin (1953), p. 155
^ Mathews (1976), p. 386.
^ Van Millingen (1912), p. 246.

[1] To which of the many saints bearing the name Theodore the church was dedicated is not clear. He could be either St. Theodore Tyro, (from Greek ὀ τήρων, mean. "the conscript") or St. Theodore Stratelates ("the general"). A joint dedication could also have been possible. Van Millingen (1912), p. 245

[ja155-2] Janin (1953), p. 155

[mat386-3] Mathews (1976), p. 386.

[4] Van Millingen (1912), p. 246.

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