Myrelaion Church (Turkish: Bodrum Camii or Mesih Pasa Camii) is a former Eastern Orthodox church in Constantinople converted into a mosque by Ottomans.
History[]
The church was built in the 10th century and originally served as a house of worship above and an underground crypt built by Byzantine Emperor Romanos as a funerary chapel for his wife Theodora.[1]
The shrine was damaged by a fire in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. Abandoned during the Latin occupation of Constantinople, the building was repaired at the end of the thirteenth century, during the period of the Palaiologi restoration. [citation needed]
After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Myrelaion was converted into a mosque by Grand Vizier Mesih Pasa around the year 1500 and named after him. The edifice was damaged again by fires in 1784 and 1911, when it was abandoned.[1]
The mosque was eventually restored in the 20th century.[1]
Trivia[]
- The Turkish name contains the words bodrum, meaning "basement", and camii, meaning "mosque".
- The Greek name, Myrelaion, could be translated as "the place of myrrh".