KALENDERHANE MOSQUE (KALENDERHANE CAMII)
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The building was originally an old thermal establishment, on the ruins of which an abbey church was built in the 6th century, which was to be extended in the 7th century. The remains of this one have the only religious mosaic scene dating from before the iconoclasm: a presentation in the Temple where the figures of the Virgin, Jesus and the priest Simeon are perfectly preserved. The current church dates from the end of the 12th century. Frescos depicting the Virgin Kyriotissa, as well as other paintings illustrating the life cycle of St. Francis of Assisi, have been discovered in the southwestern chapel. The full-length portrait of the saint and the ten scenes surrounding him were probably painted around 1250, during the Latin occupation. Mehmed the Conqueror, shortly after the capture of Constantinople, assigned the church to the Kalender dervishes serving in the Ottoman army, and thus took the name of Kalenderhane, meaning "Kalender house". Following the fires of 1718 and 1727, Beşir Ağa, the great eunuch of the seraglio, transformed the building into a mosque. Built on a cruciform plan, the central nave is covered with a dome and the other lateral spaces are vaulted with brick and mortar cradles. The walls are built of ashlar and brick. Fragments of the mosaic pavement have been discovered. The nave is covered with coloured marble slabs and the pillars on either side of the old apse are decorated with bas-reliefs in fairly good condition.
