Identıty and Documentatıon B

Identity and Documentation

 

ÇİNİLİ BATH

The bath is located on İtfaiye Avenue. Built by Architect Sinan between 1540 and 1546 at the command of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, it is one of the most important examples of “double baths” in the Classical Ottoman style, featuring separate sections for women and men. It takes its name from the blue-and-white İznik tile revetments dating to the 16th century, of which only a few have survived. Historical sources note that the bath suffered damage from fires and earthquakes in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was then used as a saddlery in the 18th century before standing vacant for a time. In the 19th century, it passed from foundation ownership to private ownership. Following restoration work carried out between 2010 and 2023, the structure was reassigned its original function and, with the addition of an adjacent building, also given a museum function. Excavations conducted during the project determined, as in many structures in Zeyrek, that the bath was built directly atop Byzantine cisterns.

 

OLD İMARET MOSQUE (Pantepoptes Monastery Church)

“Pantepoptes” means “all-seeing” and is dedicated to Jesus the All-Seeing (Christos Pantepoptes). The monastery and church were built between 1081 and 1118 by Anna Komnena, mother of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. After the conquest of Istanbul, until the construction of the Fatih Complex, the monastery section was converted into an imaret–zaviye (soup kitchen–small dervish lodge) and a madrasah. The church became the mosque of the madrasah (the Old Imaret Mosque), from which the building’s present name derives. It is known that the mosque underwent a comprehensive restoration in 1970. No trace of the monastery has survived. Today, new restoration works are underway on the structure.

 

SHEIKH SÜLEYMAN MOSQUE

Located on Zeyrek Avenue, the structure is likely an ancient mausoleum and most probably belongs to the Pantokrator Monastery complex. Although its exact construction date is unknown, it features a central plan characteristic of the Early Christian and Early Byzantine periods. During restoration in 1950, a crypt—thought to be a burial chamber—was discovered in the basement. After the conquest, around 1498/99, it was converted into a mescit (small mosque) by Sheikh Süleyman Halife. It is known to have been damaged in the Cibali fire of 1756 and repaired by Sultan Mustafa III. Restored in 2013 within a joint Turkish-Italian restoration and training program, the mescit was reopened for use in 2017.

 

SİYAVUŞ PASHA MADRASAH

Commissioned by Grand Vizier Siyavuş Pasha of Kanije for his wife Fatma Sultan, who died in childbirth, the madrasa is also known as the “Hoca Hamza Madrasa” due to the Hoca Hamza Mosque located opposite it. As the building bears no inscription, its construction date and architect are not definitively known. Since it is not mentioned in the registers of Mimar Sinan, it is generally accepted that the madrasa was built by the architect Davud Agha in the late 16th century. Reflecting the characteristics of classical Ottoman architecture, the madrasa stands out for the placement of its units on sloping terrain and a plan scheme designed on a trapezoidal parcel. Holding a prominent place in the Süleymaniye skyline, the restoration initiated with the aim of establishing an architecture museum at the Siyavuş Pasha Madrasa was completed in 2017. Today, the madrasa functions as the Hilye-i Şerif and Prayer Beads Museum.

BEYAZIT TOWER

To prevent fires in Istanbul, the Tulumbacı Corps was established in 1720, and a fire tower was built at Ağakapısı in 1749. After the wooden tower was damaged in the Cibali fire of 1774, it was rebuilt. When the Janissary Corps was abolished in 1826, the tower was demolished; a new wooden tower was first erected in the drill yard of the Bâb-ı Seraskerî in Beyazıt, and in 1828 the present masonry tower was constructed. Located in the garden of Istanbul University, the Beyazıt Tower is one of the key monuments shaping the silhouette of the Historic Peninsula. The tower—known as the only work by the architect Senekerim Balyan—stands 85 meters tall. In line with the architectural understanding of the period, it was built in a Western style; on its eastern façade is a dated inscription composed by Keçecizâde İzzet Molla and written by the calligrapher Yesârîzâde Mustafa İzzet Efendi.

 

MOLLA GÜRANİ (VEFA CHURCH) MOSQUE

It is among the Middle Byzantine churches that were converted into mosques. It is thought to have been built in the 11th century atop a structure dating to the Early Byzantine period (4th–5th centuries). Dedicated to the Roman soldier Theodoros, who was martyred for converting to Christianity, it is one of the “Hagios Theodoros” churches in the city. In 1261, an outer narthex was added to the church, which has the typical four-columned, cross-in-square plan of its time. After the conquest of Istanbul, it was converted into a mosque by Şeyhülislam Ahmed Molla Gürani, and a madrasa was established next to it. Also known as the Molla Şemseddin Gürani Mosque, it was repaired after the Cibali fire of 1833, though the madrasa has not survived. With its spolia elements from the Early Byzantine period and mosaics reflecting Late Byzantine art, it is one of the important monuments in the history of architecture.