Old Mosque, Tarsus

The Old Mosque in Tarsus — also known as the Baytimur Mosque or Church Mosque — is a rare example of a building that carries its own religious transformation in stone. Originally constructed as a Gothic church in the 12th century, likely during the Crusader period, it was repurposed as a mosque following the Seljuk consolidation of the region; traces of the original church structure remain visible in its fabric. Tarsus, birthplace of the Apostle Paul and a city layered with Greco-Roman, early Christian, and Islamic history, provides a fitting context for a monument that embodies successive faiths. Today it functions as an active mosque and stands as a quiet testament to Anatolia's long history of cultural and religious transition.