Kefevi Mosque
Changes After Its Construction:
- While it was an outbuilding of a monastery from the Byzantine period, it was allocated to
Catholics who emigrated from Caffa (Feodosia) after the conquest of Crimea and used as a
church by them. It is thought to be a section of the Manuel Monastery. - It was converted into a mosque in the 16th century at the request of Murad IV.
- It was converted into a mosque with the construction of an unknown person named Kefevi
(Kırımlı, “Crimean”). - A minbar was placed by Grand Vizier Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha in the 1700s.
- It was restored with its minaret by the Foundations Administration in the 1970s.
- A new ablution area was built in 2012.
Prominent Features:
- Kefevi Mosque, also known as the “St. Santa Claus Catholic Church” or the “Manuel
Monastery”, is a long and narrow building built with 5 rows of rough stone and 3 rows of bricks
and extending in the south-north direction. Although it has a single nave today, it is understood
from some traces that it previously had side naves extending along its two side facades. The
one on the west of these was converted into a masjid and became the narthex. - There are no decorations inside or outside the building that indicate the Byzantine and later
Latin periods. - When it was converted into a masjid, a mihrab was built in the middle of the east side wall and
a minaret was built next to the apse. - Until it was restored in 1970, its minaret was of a very common type and had an eaves whose
balcony rested on thin poles; today, this eaves have been removed, creating a high-roofed
prayer stage. - The narthex is lower and made of wood; a women gallery has also been added.
- Its minaret is on the left; its belts, staircase connections and balcony railings are made of
stone. - One of the two mihrabs is marble, the other is patterned ceramic.
- The minbar, which was previously wooden, has been renewed with concrete.
- The mosque is entered by a high staircase; the other door entrance is straight.
- The couplet “Âşık isen can başı üstü gel berû / Müfsid isen bak kapudan dön gerû” (“If you are
in love, come head over heels /If you are seditious, go back from the door”) on the door is
unfortunately no longer in its place today.
