Vefa Camii/Kilise Camii/Molla Gürani Camii/Church of St Theodore

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This is in an area on the western slope of the hill below Süleymaniye that is earmarked for urban renewal (41.016296,28.960165). As of 2014, most of the surrounding houses are in ruins and used by the eskici as temporary warehouses and sorting yards. The church itself is dirty and unkempt. I like it that way. It means that it has not yet undergone one of the municipal homogenisations that have befallen so many of the other historic buildings in the district. It has the world’s grumpiest bekçi who has an extensive vegetable garden at the back.

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It’s an odd building with a wide, arch-and-column porch on the entrance side (14^th century) and a very traditional looking four-column church (variously dated as 8^th to 12^th century). The great joy of this church is the treasure hunt through its building materials for recycled sculpture from as far back as the 5^th century.

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Oddly, the brick minaret adds to the building. It is a handsome fluted design and fits in with the spirit of the rest of the place by reusing older Byzantine bits that were lying around.

The theme of recycling is evident in the outer narthex where some 5th century columns are still doing sterling service. The south dome has some barely disguised frescoes of a similar design to those in the dome of the parekklesion ^[8] of Kariye Camii. The central dome has the kind of texture that suggests that significant mosaics have crumbled away. The inner narthex is swathed in virginal white plaster. There has been some laser measurement going on in early 2015 so a restoration might be in the offing. Maybe someone will uncover some decoration.

The nave is a pristine white mosque interior. It is probably not a good idea to congratulate the imam on the beauty of his church. I did. He used dignity and humour to make me feel silly.

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