Native Name: Gul Camii
Gul Mosque – (meaning the Rose) is located on Gul Camii sreet in the Ayakapi quarter of Fatih District . It was originally a
Byzantine
church converted into a mosque . The date of the conversion is not certain . Some thought it was the Church of Euphemia built during the rule of Basil I (867-886) which was later consecrated to St . Theodosia , a local saint martyred during iconoclast riots . Hartmut Schafer carried out a study which proposed a later date of construction between 1000 and 1150 . He also proposes that the church was Christos Euergetes . The origin of the present Turkish name of the mosque is also uncertain , however many believe that the Turkish name is attributed to a Muslim saint named Gül Baba because there is a grave placed inside the southern pier that is believed to belong to him .
In 1509 , an earthquake caused the roof of the building to collapse and it was reconstructed under Selim II (1566-1574) . The mosque was again damaged severely in the fire of 1633 and it was repaired only during the rule of Mahmud II (1808-1839) when also a wooden sultan’s lodge was added to it .
