Native name: Kalenderhane Camii
Kalenderhane Mosque is located in the Fatih district , in the neighborhood of Vefa , and is located immediately to the south of the easternmost section of the aqueduct of Valens , and less than one kilometer to the southeast of the Vefa Kilise Mosque . It was originally an Eastern Orthodox church which probably was dedicated to Theotokos Kyriotissa . The original church dates back to the 8th century and got its final shape in the 12th century . It was then converted into a mosque in the 18th century by the Ottomans . The building is important because it is considered one of few still-preserved example of a
Byzantine
church with domed Greek cross plan .
At the west of the building , there are two narthexes , one is located outside and the other inside . The main location is a closed cross plan covered with a dome with a high tambourine while the arms of the cross are surmounted by deep barrel vaults . The main apse did not survive till today .
The interior decoration of the building consist of colored marble panels and moldings , and elaborated icon frames which are still preserved . The building has two unique features: a mosaic that measures one meter square and represents the "Presentation of Christ" and is the
only pre-iconoclastic exemplar of a religious subject surviving in Istanbul , and a cycle of frescoes belonging to the thirteenth century (found in a chapel at the southeast corner of the building) portraying the life of Saint Francis of Assisi . It may have been painted only a few years after the saint’s death in 1226 . Both of these features have been partially restored and can be found in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul .
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