Fethiye Camii

The Fethiye or Victory Mosque was converted from the Church of the Monastery of
Theotokos Pammakaristos in 1591 by Murad III to commemorate the conquest of Georgia
and Azerbaijan, and to serve the community's increasing Muslim population. A plaque on the
funerary chapel or parekklesion, inscribed by poet Emmanuel Philes, shows the addition was
completed by Martha Glabas in dedication to her husband Michael Glabas Tarchaniotes (d.
1306), a high dignitary and commander of troops under Andronicus II Palaeologus. The main
church was also refurbished at this time, with additions to the north and west.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy moved from the Church of Holy Apostles to the Monastery of
Pammakaristos after the Ottoman conquest and was transferred to its current location in
Fener when the church was converted into a mosque. The fire of Balatkapi damaged the
mosque in 1640, a restoration plaque on the southern façade states that it was repaired in
1845 (1262 A.H.) The mosque was restored by the General Directorate of Religious
Endowments between 1936-38. Abandoned after the restoration, the main space was re-
opened to Islamic prayer in 1960.
The Church-Mosque
The church was one of two churches in the monastery whose walled-in complex included
rooms and offices. Its plan reveals an older church at the core, built over a cistern, enclosed
by joined ambulatories to the north, west and south. The church at the core consists of a
narthex to the west, leading into a domed nave flanked by aisles to the north and south. Its
nave and aisles terminate in apses to the east. A parekklesion, or a funerary chapel was
added to the south in the 14th century. A corridor attached to the narthex of the parekklesion
connects it with an outer narthex to the west and an outer aisle to the north.
The main church was modified to a great extent during the conversion. Triple arcades
separating the nave from the aisles were replaced with broad archways to open up the nave,
and the inner wall and northern columns of the parekklesion were removed to increase the
amount of interior space. The three apses of the main church were demolished to build a
larger sanctuary, a domed triangular extension that faces the qibla. A wooden minbar
occupies the archway between the nave and the southern aisle. The fenestration was also
revised.
A restoration led by the Byzantine Institute of America in 1960 has reinstated the
parekklesion to its Pre-Ottoman state. As it is seen today, the parekklesion has a Greek cross
plan, with a tall domed space at the center and sanctuary with semi-dome to the east,
preceded by a vaulted narthex to the west. The central dome is carried on pendentives that
are reinforced by groin vaults forming the four arms of the Cross. Two smaller domes frame
the central dome to its west on the exterior. Vertical loads from the roof are transferred with
arches to four marble columns at the center crowned with elaborately carved capitals. The
nave is dimly lit with high windows and dome lights, in contrast the sanctuary where light
floods in through windows placed at eye level. The mosaics of the parekklesion, exposed and
cleaned during the restoration, are fine examples of the Palaeologan revival.
The exterior view of the building is defined strongly by the heights of different spaces. There
is a single minaret at the southwest corner, accessed from the exterior. Its baroque cap
probably dates from the 1845 renovation.
The Madrasa
A madrasa -- built by Sinan Pasa, grand vizier of Murad II, in 1591-92 - displays an open
courtyard facing the newly converted mosque. The U-shaped plan of the original madrasa,
consisting of a long north-south wing and short side wings, was maintained during
reconstruction of the madrasa (Fethiye Medresesi) in early 20th century by Mimar
Kemaleddin Bey. The new madrasa has a basement and ground floor; the seventeen rooms
on the ground floor were assembled into five larger rooms in early republican period to house
a primary school, which still occupies the building today. The complex also had a fountain
and a mekteb built by steward Mehmed Aga.