Sancaktar Hayrettin Mosque Sancaktar Hayrettin Camii
The mosque viewed from the north
Religion
Affiliation	Sunni Islam
Year consecrated	Shortly after 1453
Location
Location	Istanbul , Turkey
Location in the Fatih district of Istanbul
Geographic coordinates	41°00′09.90″N 28°56′04.80″E  /  41.0027500°N 28.9346667°E  / 41.0027500; 28.9346667
Architecture
Type	church
Style	Byzantine
Completed	14th Century
Specifications
Minaret (s)	1
Materials	brick , stone

Sancaktar Hayrettin Mosque ( Turkish : Sancaktar Hayrettin Camii ; also Sancaktar Hayrettin Mescidi , where Mescit is the Turkish word for a small mosque, or Sancaktar Mescidi ) is part of a former Eastern Orthodox monastery converted into a mosque by the Ottomans . It is generally believed that the small building belonged to the Byzantine Monastery of Gastria ( Greek : Μον? τ?ν Γαστρ?ων , Mon? t?n Gastri?n , meaning "Monastery of the Vases"). The edifice is a minor example of Palaiologan architecture in Constantinople , and is important for historical reasons.

Location [ edit ]

The medieval structure, choked by artisan shops, lies in Istanbul , in the district of Fatih , in the neighborhood of Kocamustafapa?a (historically Samatya ), on Teberdar Sokak , about five hundred meters north east of the Kocamustafapa?a station of the suburban railway line between Sirkeci and Halkalı.

History [ edit ]

The origin of this building, which lies on the southern slope of the seventh hill of Constantinople and overlooks the Sea of Marmara , is not certain. Traditional accounts state that in the year 325 Helena , the mother of Constantine I , coming back from Jerusalem with the True Cross and entering the City through the Port tou Psomatheou , left in this place some vases ("Gastria") containing aromatic herbs collected on Calvary . She subsequently founded a nunnery at the site. ^[1] In reality, no monastery was established in Constantinople before the last quarter of the fourth century, so this has to be considered only a legend. ^[1]

The nunnery of Gastria was first mentioned at the beginning of the ninth century. ^[2] At that time Theoktiste , mother of Empress Theodora (wife of Emperor Theophilos and restorer of the cult of the icons ) ^[3] bought in the quarter of Psamathia a house from the Patrician Niketas (possibly Saint Nicetas the Patrician ), and established there a nunnery. The title of Kt?torissa (foundress), together with the property of the buildings, was inherited by her daughter Theodora. Together with her daughters Thekla, Anna, Anastasia and Pulcheria , Theodora was removed to the monastery by her brother Bardas after her deposition as regent for her son, Michael III , in 856. All of them were forced to accept the tonsure , ^[4] although her eldest daughter, Thekla, was eventually recalled by Michael to serve as a mistress for his favourite, Basil the Macedonian . The 10th-century emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos writes in his book De Ceremoniis that the church of the nunnery served also as a mausoleum for the members of Theodora's family. The Empress, her brother Petronas , her mother and her three daughters were all buried there. ^[5]

The last mention of Gastria before 1453 comes from a Russian pilgrim, who visited the City during the second quarter of the fifteenth century. He remembers a nunnery placed near the Golden Gate , where the relics of Saint Euphemia and Saint Eudokia were venerated . ^[6] This building could well be identified with Gastria. ^[6]

Shortly after the Fall of Constantinople , Hayrettin Effendi , Sancaktar (standard-bearer) of Sultan Mehmed II , converted the building into a mescit (oratory) and was buried there. ^[2] The charter for this religious foundation has not survived. ^[2] The 1894 Istanbul earthquake , which had its epicentre under the Sea of Marmara, partially destroyed the mosque, which was restored only between 1973 and 1976. ^[2]

Description [ edit ]

Due to its small dimension, the building cannot be identified with the church of the nunnery, but rather with a martyrion (burial chapel) or a mausoleum, ^[2] which can be dated to the Palaiologan period (14th century). ^[2] The building had the shape of an irregular octagon with a cross-shaped interior and an apse oriented toward East. ^[2] Light penetrates into the building through windows opened on alternate sides, which illuminate the arms of the cross-shaped interior. Each window is inside a blind arch which spans the whole side. The masonry uses alternate courses of brick and ashlar , giving to the exterior the polychromy typical of the Palaiologan period. ^[7] Remnants of walls still present in the northwest and south sides before the restoration showed that the building was not isolated, but connected with other edifices. ^[2] A minaret has also been added to the restored building.

• 
  Sancaktar Hayrettin Mosque exterior
• 
  Sancaktar Hayrettin Mosque exterior
• 
  Sancaktar Hayrettin Mosque column
• 
  Sancaktar Hayrettin Mosque interior

References [ edit ]

Further reading [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sancaktar Hayrettin Mosque .

• Eyice, Semavi (1955). Istanbul. Petite Guide a travers les Monuments Byzantins et Turcs (in French). Istanbul: Istanbul Matbaası.

• Garland, Lynda (1999). Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527-1204 . Routledge. ISBN   978-0-415-14688-3 .

• Gulersoy, Celik (1976). A Guide to Istanbul . Istanbul: Istanbul Kitaplı?ı. OCLC   3849706 .

• Janin, Raymond (1953). La Geographie Ecclesiastique de l'Empire Byzantin. 1. Part: Le Siege de Constantinople et le Patriarcat Oecumenique. 3rd Vol. : Les Eglises et les Monasteres (in French). Paris: Institut Francais d'Etudes Byzantines.

• Mamboury, Ernest (1953). The Tourists' Istanbul . Istanbul: Cituri Biraderler Basımevi.

• Muller-Wiener, Wolfgang (1977). Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls: Byzantion, Konstantinupolis, Istanbul bis zum Beginn d. 17 Jh (in German). Tubingen: Wasmuth. ISBN   978-3-8030-1022-3 .