Eski Imaret Mosque, Byzantine mosque in Fatih district, Turkey
Eski Imaret Mosque is a brick Byzantine church converted into a mosque, located in the Fatih district of Istanbul on a hillside facing the Golden Horn. The building is organized around a central dome and follows the typical cross-in-square plan common in Byzantine church construction.
The building was erected in the 11th century as a monastery church, attributed to Anna Dalassena, mother of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, it served as a storehouse and soup kitchen before being converted into a mosque.
The building was originally a Byzantine church, and its interior still shows traces of that earlier life: arched forms, brickwork patterns, and the overall layout of the space reflect that origin. Visitors who look closely can notice how older layers of the structure show through beneath the later additions.
The mosque sits in a residential part of Fatih and can be reached on foot from other Byzantine buildings nearby. Since ongoing restoration work may limit access, it is worth checking current conditions before planning a visit.
Inside, a U-shaped gallery runs above the narthex, a feature rarely found in Byzantine churches of this type. The name of the building comes from the Arabic word 'imaret', a term for a soup kitchen, referring to the function the building held right after the Ottoman conquest.
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