Molla Zeyrek Mosque
Being there
This is a triple structure: the church of the Monastery of Pantokrator built 1118, then a public church circa 1136 plus a chapel that served as a royal mausoleum. It became a mosque and medresse in Ottoman times, but without massive alteration so it's a prime example of middle-Byzantine architecture. It's nowadays again a mosque, photogenic by day or dusk but the area should be avoided at night.
The story
Zeyrek Mosque (Turkish: Zeyrek Camii) or the Monastery of the Pantokrator (Greek: Μονή του Παντοκράτορος Χριστού; Turkish: Pantokrator Manastırı), is a large mosque on the Fazilet Street in the Zeyrek district of Fatih in Istanbul, overlooking the Golden Horn. It is made up of two former Byzantine churches and a chapel joined together and represents the best example of Middle Byzantine architecture in Constantinople. After Hagia Sophia, it is the largest Byzantine religious edifice still standing in Istanbul.
It is less than 1 km to the southeast of Eski Imaret Mosque, another Byzantine church that was turned into a mosque.
East of the complex is an Ottoman Konak which has been restored and opened as a restaurant and tea garden called Zeyrekhane.