Manastır Mosque

The Manastir Mosque, in Turkish Manastir Mescidi, is a small place of worship in the Fatih district on Istanbul's historic peninsula, originating as a Byzantine monastery church of the 11th or 12th century. The exact origins are unclear; one hypothesis links the building to a monastery dedicated to the female martyrs Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora. After the Ottoman conquest in 1453 the structure was converted into a mescit, a small neighborhood mosque, and given a slender minaret. The cruciform plan with low central dome remains legible. The mosque lies somewhat off the tourist track in the narrow lanes west of the Fatih Mosque.