Fatih Mosque

About Fatih Mosque

Mosque in Trabzon, northeastern Turkey

The Fatih Mosque of Trabzon, in the Ortahisar quarter at the heart of the old town, is one of the city's oldest and most important religious monuments. It was built as the Byzantine church of Panagia Chrysokephalos, "the Golden-Headed Virgin", in the 10th or 11th century on much earlier foundations: until the 4th century the site was a place of Mithras worship. The church served as both the cathedral of the see of Trebizond and the church of a monastery, and in the Middle Ages hosted the coronations of the emperors of Trebizond. After Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror took the city in 1461 the building became a mosque named after him, gaining a minaret, mihrab and minbar, and it displays some of the finest examples of Ottoman calligraphy. Restoration in 2017–2018 uncovered more of its original features, and a raised glass platform now lets visitors look down on the fine late-Roman mosaic floor. The mosque remains in use for prayer in the centre of Ortahisar, between the old citadel walls and the city's markets, and together with Hagia Sophia and the New Friday Mosque forms Trabzon's trio of Byzantine churches turned mosques.

Where:

Trabzon, Türkiye