In this paper, I will provide a brief overview of the ‘Ottomanization’ of Chora Monastery and its immediate surroundings using primary and secondary sources.1 The church was converted into a mosque shortly before 1511 – the date reflected in the registry documents for the foundation – by the grand vizier Hadım (also known as Atîk) Ali Pasha (r. 1501–03, 1509–11). Attached to his waqf in the Çemberlitaş district of Constantinople,2 the building is mentioned as ‘Cami-i Küçük’ (Small Mosque) in documents concerning the repair of three mosques of Ali Pasha that were destroyed in the earthquake of 1766.3 As pointed out by Robert G. Ousterhout, apart from the Ottoman alterations to its western façade, as well as to the drums of its domes, the most striking change – though well adapted to the character of the monument, with its modest dimensions and its brickwork – was the replacement of the bell tower with a minaret (Fig. 6.1).4
View of Kariye Camii, Istanbul, from the west, end of the 19th century
Photo: Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Photography Collection
After the building’s transformation into a mosque, the mosaics and frescoes were covered with plaster, and several elements were incorporated into the prayer space (Fig. 6.2), namely, the mihrab, the wooden minbar (seen at right), and the wooden preaching pulpit (vaaz kürsüsü; seen at left).
Ottoman additions to the apse of the former church, 1937
Photo: Oğuz Topoğlu
The preaching pulpit with its panels in the kündekâri technique seems to date from the 16th century, while the minbar with its painted decoration in the edirnekâri style must have been renewed in the first half of the 18th century. The mihrab is strikingly harmonious with the Byzantine fabric around it: its veneer, which seems to have been deliberately produced from the same marble that covers the lower part of the apse wall, creates the impression that this prayer niche belongs to the original church building. The Ottoman chandelier, heir to Byzantine polycandelons, reflects the so-called ‘Ottoman Baroque style’ that was widespread from the second quarter of the 18th century, with its curved details and garlands.5
The fact that the church was not transformed into a mosque just or even soon after the Ottoman conquest – like some others were – but rather at the beginning of the 16th century can be explained perhaps by the institution’s location outside the densely inhabited heart of Byzantine Constantinople. Thus, in parallel to the conversion, a Muslim neighbourhood (mahalle) was created around the monument. A photograph from the end of the 19th century, taken from the south-east, shows the Kariye surrounded by modest wooden houses, as well as vacant lots resulting from several fires (Fig. 6.3).
View of the urban fabric around Kariye Camii, Istanbul, end of the 19th century
Photo: Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Photography Collection
In the foreground, we see the small, post-Byzantine Greek Orthodox church of Panagia Uranon.6 In the distance, land walls are visible along with the Tekfur Sarayı or Palace of the Porphyrogenitus.
Additionally, an insurance map by Jacques Pervititch dated July 1929 shows two Greek schools next to the church, probably one for boys and the other for girls (Fig. 6.4).
Jacques Pervititch’s insurance map, showing the urban fabric around Kariye Camii, Istanbul, 1929
Photo: Jacques Pervititch, Sigorta Haritalarında İstanbul, repr. in Istanbul in the Insurance Maps of Jacques Pervititch, ed. Zülal Kılıç, Istanbul 2000, p. 175
This suggests that, east of Kariye Mosque, a Greek neighbourhood was juxtaposed to the Muslim district. Both the photograph and the map attest that the urban fabric changed little between the early Ottoman and early Republican periods.
Through sources, we can present a chronology of the changes made to the building and its surroundings:
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1668: A fountain is constructed to the north-west of Kariye Mosque by a certain Mustafa Agha.7
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First half of the 18th century: The chief eunuch Hacı Beşir Agha (c.1655–1746) establishes a soup kitchen (imaret) and a primary school.
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22 May 1766: An earthquake impacts Constantinople. Kariye Mosque is cited among the ‘heavily’ damaged buildings.8 The building will be restored ten years later by the architect Ismail Halife,9 at a cost of 1,340.50 kuruş.10
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1784: The tomb of Abû Said al-Hudrî, a companion of the Prophet (sahabî), is first cited in an archival document as ‘The tomb of Hazret-i Abû Said al-Hudrî adjoining Kariye Mosque’.11
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30 July 1788: A tomb keeper (türbedar) is assigned to the tomb of Abû Said al-Hudrî, buried within the madrasa of Kariye Mosque.12
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29 March 1790: A tomb keeper is assigned from the waqf of Haseki Sultan for the tomb inside the madrasa, which is among the waqfs under the supervision of the chief eunuch (bâbüssaade ağası) and situated beside Kariye Mosque in Edirnekapı.13
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1835–36: The tomb is restored under Mahmud II. In 1968, the artist Ahmet Süheyl Ünver relates that the tughra of Mahmud II (signed ‘Hâşim’) was once installed above the entrance and later preserved inside the mosque for some time before being restored to its original place.14 Nowadays this tughra is lost, probably stolen.
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10 May 1870: Mosaics are stolen from Kariye Mosque, and precautions taken to avoid further burglary.15
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9 March 1874: The Ministry of Awqaf sends photographs of Kariye and Zeyrek Mosques to the Russian Archaeological Institute of Constantinople (RAIC).16
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12 April 1874: Kostanti Efendi requests permission to copy the ‘paintings’ in the narthex (“son cemaat yeri”) of Kariye Mosque.17
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13 December 1874: The creation of drawings of Kariye and Zeyrek Mosques is funded by the RAIC, the School of Engineering (Hendesehane), and the municipality.18
16 August 1875: The Kariye Mosque in Edirnekapı undergoes restoration.19
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Before 1889–90: A Naqshbandi tekke (a dervish lodge) is founded by Sheikh Seyyid Mehmed Ârif Efendi (d. 1906), the keeper of the tomb of Abû Said al-Hudrî.
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1889–90: The tekke of Abû Said al-Hudrî (around Edirnekapı, near Kariye Mosque) is cited in Mecmua-i Tekâyâ as one such institution that performs its rituals on Friday. The tekke was attached to the Naqshbandi Order, and its sheikh was Ârif Efendi.20
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4 October 1890: The German architect Alexander Rüdell receives permission to take pictures of Kariye Mosque.21
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3 October 1893: The Ministry of Awqaf demands a registry of expenses for the necessary repair of Kariye Mosque.22
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12 October 1893: Kariye Mosque undergoes restoration.23
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22 October 1893: Kariye Mosque undergoes restoration in accordance with a list of materials (keşif defteri) returned and attached.24
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10 July 1894: An earthquake impacts Constantinople.25
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5 April 1896: The Ministry of Awqaf restores the elements of Kariye Mosque that were damaged in the earthquake of 1894.26
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5 May 1896: Kariye Mosque undergoes restoration.27
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11 May 1896: The Ministry of Awqaf restores further elements of Kariye Mosque that were damaged in the earthquake of 1894.28
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18 October 1899: A request is submitted to calculate the amount that was spent to renew the macadam road (leading from Edirnekapı Street to Kariye Mosque) and its environs in preparation for Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II’s 1898 visit to the city.29
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20 December 1899: The macadam road leading from Edirnekapı Street to Kariye Mosque undergoes restoration.30
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21 February 1901: The undersecretary of the French Embassy visits Kariye Mosque, and French Jesuit disciples of Gedikpaşa visit Samatya.31
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9 November 1901: The Greek ambassador visits Kariye Mosque, accompanied by someone from Germany.32
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20 February 1902: Grand Vizier Said Pasha (1838–1914) permits Mabden Bavor, a private advisor (müşavir-i has) to the German state, and accompanying persons to take pictures of Hagia Sophia and the Kariye. Bavor was sent by Kaiser Wilhelm II to check on the ongoing excavations in Baalbek.33
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1903–06: Kariye Mosque undergoes restoration by Fedor Shmit from the RAIC.34
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28 October 1906: Payment is made to rebuild the sidewalk (kaldırım) along the road leading to Kariye Mosque.35
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31 October 1906: The expense for the sidewalk of the road leading to Kariye Mosque is liquidated.36
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1922–23: The tekke is cited in Esâmi-i Tekâyâ Defteri, hand-copied by Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi.37
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1929: Kariye Mosque undergoes restoration by the Ministry of Awqaf.
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1948: The mosque is converted into a museum.
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1978: The fountain undergoes restoration by the Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey.
Among the structures added around the former church during the Ottoman period, the madrasa, the soup kitchen, and the tekke have disappeared, but the traces of the tomb have survived to this day. The plot on which the tekke and the tomb were located was partially enclosed by walls on its eastern and southern borders, the southern wall standing adjacent to the buttress behind the apse. To the west, the plot was partially surrounded by Kariye Mosque and by Kariye Türbesi Street, which curves at the corner of the mosque to extend east. The north-west corner of the plot is still allocated to the tomb, a rectangular sarcophagus surmounted by a cylindrical tombstone (şahide) displaying an informative inscription (Fig. 6.5) reading, “Yâ Hû / Ashâb-ı kirâmdan / Ebû Said el-Hudrî / Radyalahu anh / Hicret 46” (O Just He / Abû Said al-Hudrî / Among the prominent companions of the Prophet / May Allah be pleased with him / 46th year of Hijra).
Tomb of Abû Said al-Hudrî, adjacent to Kariye Camii, Istanbul
Photo: M. Baha Tanman
The plot has three entrances. The one closest to Kariye Mosque probably provided access to the tomb, while the other opening to the north served as the entrance to the tekke. Several wooden buildings of different dimensions can be detected on the Pervititch map (see Fig. 6.4). The single-storey building just to the right of the western entrance and adjacent to the apse wall of the Kariye could have been the residence of the sheikh (and his family, or harem), who was at the same time the tomb keeper. The other buildings neighbouring the northern entrance probably hosted the units of the tekke. The third door on the north-eastern part of the plot opened to the garden of the harem, part of the three-wing residence of the sheikh and his family.
The western entrance of the tekke and its three large windows are aligned on the ashlar wall that runs along the street (Fig. 6.6).
Northwest section of the enclosure wall, adjacent to Kariye Camii, Istanbul
Photo: M. Baha Tanman
The window in the middle is arched, whereas the other two are rectangular. The wall is equipped with arches in the sections above these windows. All three of them are crowned by inscriptions in thuluth script.
The inscription above the rightmost window leads with the Sentence of Tawheed (Fig. 6.7).
Inscriptions above the rightmost window of the enclosure wall adjacent to Kariye Camii, Istanbul
Photo: M. Baha Tanman
At the bottom, it states that this place is the tomb of Abû Said al-Hudrî. The small compartment to the left of the bottom line gives the name of the calligrapher, Hıdır, who was the trustee (mütevelli) of the Haseki Sultan Foundation, along with the Hijri date 1177 (Gregorian 1763–64). The full inscription reads, “Fa’lemennehû Lâ ilâhe illallah. / Ashâb-ı kiramdan Ebû Said el-Hudrî radyallah / Tealâ anh hazretlerinin merkad-i şerifleridir – ketebehû Hıdır Mütevellî-i / Haseki Sultan 1177” (Know that there is no God but Allah. / This is the venerable tomb of Abû Said al-Hudrî, may Allah be pleased with him, / among the prominent companions of the Prophet – written by Hıdır, trustee of the Haseki Sultan [Foundation] 1177).
Above the middle window appears only the Sentence of Tawheed (Fig. 6.8).
Central window of the enclosure wall adjacent to Kariye Camii, Istanbul
Photo: M. Baha Tanman
The inscription above the leftmost window (Fig. 6.9) gives the Hijri date 1304 (Gregorian 1886–87).
Inscription above the leftmost window of the enclosure wall adjacent to Kariye Camii, Istanbul
Photo: M. Baha Tanman
In addition, it contains a short biography of Abû Said al-Hudrî, and the name of the founder of the lodge, along with the date of foundation, both appear on the bottom line, which is flanked by dervish headgear motifs. The full inscription reads:
Ecille-i ashâb-ı kiramdan Hazret-i Ebû Said el-Hudrî ashâbından Mâlik ibn Sinan
Hazretlerinin mahdumlarıdır ve on beş yaşında iken Benî Mustalik gazâsına
teşrif etdi ve fem-i saadet peyğamberîden bin yüz yetmiş hadîs-i şerîf rivâyet buyurmuşdur.
Bânî-i în hankâh Şeyh Mehmed Ârifest sene 1304.
(Hadhrat Abû Said al-Hudrî from the select ones among the prominent companions of the Prophet is the son of Hadhrat Mâlik ibn Sinan, and the participated to the ghaza (holy war) of Benî Mustalik when he was fifteen and related one thousand hundred seventy hadiths from the blessed mouth of the Prophet. The founder of this sufî lodge [hankâh] is Mehmed Ârif year 1304.)
It is interesting to note that all Byzantine religious buildings that were reused by the Ottomans – with the exception of Hagia Sophia – were given two functions: that of a mosque and that of a tekke. The earliest example is the church of Panagia Kyriotissa, dedicated by Mehmed II (r. 1444–46, 1451–81) to the travelling Mevlevi dervishes under the name of ‘Kalenderhane’ shortly after the conquest. Under Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512), the churches of Stoudios, St Andreas in Krisei, and Ss Sergios and Bakkhos became mosque-tekkes attached to the Halveti Order, being respectively renamed İmrahor, Koca Mustafa Pasha, and Küçük Ayasofya. The latter with its octagonal plan provided an ideal space for the circular ritual practiced by the Halvetis, called devran (Fig. 6.10).
Ritual of the Halveti Order called “devran”
Ignatius Mouradgea D’Ohsson, Tableau Général de l’Empire Othoman, divisé en deux parties, dont l’une comprend la Législation Mahométane; l’autre l’Histoire de l’Empire Othomane, 3 Vols (Paris, 1790)
Other mosque-tekkes are Fenarî İsa, Toklu Dede, Sancakdar Hayreddin, Zeyrek (Semercizade), and Kefevî.
Among these monuments, Kariye Mosque represents a slightly different case. Here, the prayer space did not incorporate the function of a tekke. Rather, the tekke stood immediately adjacent to the exterior of the mosque, forming an element of the complex that housed, among other units, a primary school, a madrasa, and a soup kitchen.
Hagia Sophia, by contrast, never assumed a proper mosque-tekke role. However, it was not completely spared from this mystical omnipresence either. For example, historically almost all preachers, called Ayasofya kürsü şeyhi, were prominent Sufi sheikhs. In addition, different Sufi orders had the right to perform their rituals in Hagia Sophia during the holiest night of the Ramadān, the Night of Power (Kadir Gecesi).
Was this bifunctional reuse of the Byzantine churches, which corresponds to the exoteric and esoteric aspects of Muslim religious life, inspired by the mystical dimension of Eastern Christianity? By considering the rich Byzantine cultural legacy of the Ottoman world, this possibility emerges.
Archives
Ottoman Archives of the Prime Minister’s Office, Istanbul
Archive of the General Directorate of Foundations, Istanbul
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Bandırmalızade es-Seyyid Ahmed Münib Üsküdarî. Mecmuâ-i Tekâyâ. Istanbul, 1889–1890.
Secondary Sources
Arel, Ayda. Onsekizinci Yüzyıl İstanbul Mimarisinde Batılılaşma Süreci [The Westernization Process of Architecture in Istanbul during the Eighteenth Century]. Istanbul, 1975.
Barkan, Ömer Lûtfi, and Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi. İstanbul Vakıfları Tahrîr Defteri 953 (1546) Tarihli [Registers of the Istanbul Pious Foundations dated 953 (1546)]. Istanbul, 1970.
Çetin, Atilla. “İstanbul’da Tekke, Zâviye ve Hânkahlar Hakkında Hakkında 1199 (1784) Tarihli Önemli Bir Vesika” [An Important Document on the Tekkes, Zâviyes and Hânkahs of Istanbul dated 1199 (1784)], Vakıflar Dergisi [Journal of Pious Foundations] 13 (1981), 583–590.
Egemen, Affan. İstanbul’un Çeşme ve Sebilleri [Fountains and Sabils of Istanbul]. Istanbul, 1993.
Göktürk, Hakkı. “Ebû Said el-Hudrî Tekkesi” [Tekke of Ebû Said el-Hudrî], İstanbul Ansiklopedisi [Istanbul Encyclopedia] 9 (1968), 4858.
Karaca, Zafer. İstanbul’da Tanzimat Öncesi Rum Ortodoks Kiliseleri [Greek Orthodox Churches of Istanbul before Tanzimat Period]. Istanbul, 2008.
Kuban, Doğan. Türk Barok Mimarisi Hakkında Bir Deneme [An Essay on Turkish Baroque Architecture]. Istanbul, 1954.
Mazlum, Deniz. 1766 İstanbul Depremi. Belgeler Işığında Yapı Onarımları [The Earthquake of 1766 in Istanbul. Restorations of Buildings in the Light of Documents]. Istanbul, 2011.
Orgun, Zarif. “Hassa Mimarları,” Arkitekt 12 (1938), 333–342.
Ousterhout, Robert G. “The Kariye: A Brief Introduction to the Building,” in Kariye: From Theodore Metochites to Thomas Whittemore; One Monument, Two Monumental Personalities, edited by Holger A. Klein, Robert G. Ousterhout, and Brigitte Pitarakis, pp. 16–32. Istanbul, 2007.
Özkılıç, Sema Küçükalioğlu. 1894 Depremi ve İstanbul [The Earthquake of 1894 and Istanbul]. Istanbul 2015.
Rustem, Unver. Ottoman Baroque: The Architectural Refashioning of Eighteenth-Century Istanbul. Princeton, 2019.
Tanışık, İbrahim. İstanbul Çeşmeleri [Fountains of Istanbul]. vol. 1, İstanbul Ciheti. Istanbul, 1943.
Tanman, M. Baha. “İstanbul’daki Sahâbe Türbelerinin ve Kabirlerinin Özellikleri” [Features of the Mausolea and Tombs of the Companions of the Prophet], in Ashâb-ı Kirâm [Venerable Companions of the Prophet], edited by Çiğdem Yazar, pp. 139–155. Istanbul, 2014.
Ünver, Süheyl. “Ebû Said el-Hudrî,” İstanbul Ansiklopedisi [Istanbul Encyclopedia] 9 (1968), 4857–4858.
Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, along with health issues, I could not complete a thorough analysis of the archival material on the restorations, which would surely clarify certain details concerning the changes to the plan, as well as the materials used during these undertakings.
Ömer Lûtfi Barkan and Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi, İstanbul Vakıfları Tahrîr Defteri 953 (1546) Tarihli [Registers of the Istanbul Pious Foundations dated 953 (1546)] (Istanbul, 1970), pp. 67, 70.
Deniz Mazlum, 1766 İstanbul Depremi. Belgeler Işığında Yapı Onarımları [The Earthquake of 1766 in Istanbul. Restorations of Buildings in the Light of Documents] (Istanbul, 2011), p. 165.
Robert G. Ousterhout, “The Kariye: A Brief Introduction to the Building,” in Kariye: From Theodore Metochites to Thomas Whittemore; One Monument, Two Monumental Personalities, ed. Holger A. Klein, Robert G. Ousterhout, and Brigitte Pitarakis (Istanbul, 2007), pp. 16–32, esp. 20.
For the Ottoman Baroque, see Doğan Kuban, Türk Barok Mimarisi Hakkında Bir Deneme [An Essay on Turkish Baroque Architecture] (Istanbul, 1954); Ayda Arel, Onsekizinci Yüzyıl İstanbul Mimarisinde Batılılaşma Süreci [The Westernization Process of Architecture in Istanbul during the Eighteenth Century] (Istanbul, 1975); Unver Rustem, Ottoman Baroque: The Architectural Refashioning of Eighteenth-Century Istanbul (Princeton, N.J., 2019).
Zafer Karaca, İstanbul’da Tanzimat Öncesi Rum Ortodoks Kiliseleri [Greek Orthodox Churches of Istanbul before Tanzimat Period] (Istanbul, 2008), pp. 255–61. In the Pervititch map, the church’s name is erroneously given as ‘Kimisis tou Theotokos’.
İbrahim Hilmi Tanışık, İstanbul Çeşmeleri [Fountains of Istanbul] (Istanbul, 1943), 1:86; Affan Egemen, İstanbul’un Çeşme ve Sebilleri [Fountains and Sabils of Istanbul] (Istanbul, 1993), p. 625.
Mazlum, 1766 İstanbul Depremi, p. 54, from Topkapı Palace Museum Archive D. 10129 and 9567.
Zarif Orgun, “Hassa Mimarları,” Arkitekt 12 (1938), 333–42, esp. 337.
Mazlum, 1766 İstanbul Depremi, p. 190.
Atilla Çetin, “İstanbul’da Tekke, Zâviye ve Hânkahlar Hakkında 1199 (1784) Tarihli Önemli Bir Vesika,” [An Important Document on the Tekkes, Zâviyes and Hânkahs of Istanbul dated 1199 (1784)], Vakıflar Dergisi [Journal of Pious Foundations] 13 (1981), 583–90, esp. 585.
Ottoman Archives of the Prime Minister’s Office, Istanbul (BOA), CE .. EV .., 412, 20897, 22 Shawwāl 1202.
BOA, CE .. EV .., 413, 20909, 12 Rajab 1204.
Süheyl Ünver, “Ebû Said el-Hudrî,” İstanbul Ansiklopedisi [Istanbul Encyclopedia] 9 (1968), 4857–58.
BOA, HR.MKT, 684, 22, 8 Safar 1287.
BOA, HR.MKT, 823, 36, 20 Muḥarram 1291.
BOA, HR.MKT, 18, 42, 24 Safar 1291.
BOA, HR.MKT, 858, 86, 4 Dhū al-Qaʿdah 1291.
BOA, İ .. DH .., 706, 49402, 14 Rajab 1292.
Bandırmalızade es-Seyyid Ahmed Münib Üsküdarî, Mecmuâ-i Tekâyâ (Istanbul, 1889– 90), p. 3. See also Hakkı Göktürk, “Ebû Said el-Hudrî Tekkesi,” [Tekke of Ebû Said el-Hudrî], İstanbul Ansiklopedisi [Istanbul Encyclopedia] 9 (1968), 4858; M. Baha Tanman, “İstanbul’daki Sahâbe Türbelerinin ve Kabirlerinin Özellikleri” [Features of the Mausolea and Tombs of the Companions of the Prophet], in Ashâb-ı Kirâm [Venerable Companions of the Prophet], ed. Çiğdem Yazar (Istanbul, 2014), pp. 139–55, esp. 148.
BOA, MF.MKT.121,76, 19 Safar 1308.
BOA, ŞD.127, 17, 22 Rabīʿ al-Awwal 1311.
BOA, BEO.298, 2278, 11 Rabīʾ al-Ākhir 1311.
BOA, İ..EV..5,1, 1 Rabīʾ al-Ākhir 1311.
Sema Küçükalioğlu Özkılıç, 1894 Depremi ve İstanbul [The Erathquake of 1894 and Istanbul] (Istanbul, 2015).
BOA, ŞD.137, 54, 21 Shawwāl 1313.
BOA, İ..EV..13,12, 22 Dhū al-Qaʿdah 1313.
BOA, BEO, 778, 58342, 28 Dhū al-Qaʿdah 1313.
BOA DH.MKT.2258, 24, 12 Jumādá al-Ākhirah 1317.
BOA, İ..ŞE..12,22, 16 Shaʿbān 1317.
BOA, Y.PRK.ZB..26,72, 2 Dhū al-Qaʿdah 1318.
BOA, Y.PRK.ZB..31.85, 27 Rajab 1319.
BOA, HR.TH..264,106, 12 Dhū al-Qaʿdah 1319.
Ousterhout, “The Kariye,” p. 21.
BOA, İ..ŞE..20,33:, 10 Ramaḍān 1324.
BOA, BEO, 2937, 220224, 13 Ramaḍān 1324.
Archive of the General Directorate of Foundations, Istanbul, R.1341/1922–23, no. 63; order: Naqshbandi; founder: Mehmed Ârif; location: Ayvansaray-Ebûsaidelhudrî.