Native Name: Bodrum Camii
Bodrum Mosque is located in the district of Eminönü , in the neighborhood of Aksaray , one kilometre west of the ruins of the Great Palace of Constantinople . It was a former church built during
Byzantine
times which was known under the Greek name of Myrelaion (Myrdaion Monastery) or "the place of myrrh . " The church was converted into a mosque by grand vizier Mesih Ali Pasha in 1500 , as part of a campaign of conversion initiated by Bayezid II (1481-1512) . The mosque is now either known by its Turkish name which means 'basement' that refers to its crypt or also by the name of its Ottoman founder , Mesih Pasa .
Fires caused damage to the mosque two times in 1784 and in 1911 . It was abandoned till 1930 , when a team of archaeologists led by David Talbot Rice discovered the round cistern of a former Roman palace while they were investigating the site around the mosque . An unfinished repairing project initiated by
Istanbul
Archaeology Museum in 1964-65 deformed the historic appearance of the church by replacing a majority of its exterior masonry . In 1965 , an excavation focused on the substructure of the mosque led by R . Naumann revealed traces of the imperial palace nearby
. Then finally in 1986 , the building was restored as a mosque along with the cistern which was restored in the 1990s and is used now as an underground shopping mall .
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