page_title: Kefeli Mosque
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Kefeli Mosque / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: The apse of the former Church of the Saint Nicholas( today Kefeli Mescidi) in Istanbul viewed from N
context_page_description: The Kefeli Mosque is a former Eastern Orthodox church, later jointly officiated by Roman Catholics and Armenians, and finally converted into a mosque by the Ottomans. The Catholic Church was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. Its date of dedication as an Eastern Orthodox church is unknown, but it is commonly identified with the 9th-century Monastery of Manuel.
  The interest of Kefeli Mosque arises because it repurposes the early Christian basilica form during the later Byzantine period.
context_section_description: The building is a large hall, 22.6 meter long by 7.22 wide, and is oriented in North-South direction, which is quite uncommon among the Byzantine churches in Constantinople. Its masonry consists of alternate courses of bricks and stones. The original building had a triple-nave plan, but the only remains of the side aisles belong to the end wall of the western one. To the north side there is an arch and a semicircular apse made of bricks, which outside has a polygonal shape. The walls of the apse are indented by two niches. The main aisle has walls which are lighted by two ranges of windows, which are irregularly spaced. The southern wall is also lighted by two ranges of windows. The lower windows are much larger than the higher. The entrance is situated in the middle of the western wall. Under the western side there is a cistern, whose roof rests on three columns. 
  The dating of the edifice is uncertain. The polygonal apse and the niches in the apse are typical of the churches of Palaiologan foundation. The building is architecturally interesting because it is an example of reproposition of the early Christian Basilica form during the later Byzantine period.
caption: The apse of the mosque with the minaret seen from the north. From here, the alternate courses of bricks and stone are clearly visible.
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