Gül Mosque

The Gul Mosque, Gul Camii in Turkish, was originally a Byzantine church, probably the eleventh- or twelfth-century church of Hagia Theodosia, converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. It stands in the Ayakapi quarter on the Golden Horn and belongs to the lesser-known Byzantine-Ottoman hybrid buildings of Istanbul, well off the main tourist track. According to legend the name Gul, meaning rose, refers to roses found on the altar when the city fell in 1453. Inside, the original cross-domed Byzantine plan is still legible: massive piers, central dome and surviving stretches of Byzantine masonry. For travellers who want to read Istanbul's Christian past without the Hagia Sophia queues, this is one of the most rewarding quiet alternatives.