Church of Christ Pantepopt

View from the south side.

The Church of Christ Pantepopt (that is, the All-Seeing; Eκκλησία του Χριστού Παντεπόπτη) is the only church of the 11th century that has been preserved in Istanbul . It was built no later than 1087 at the initiative of Anna Dalassina , who founded a convent on the fourth hill of Constantinople , consecrated in honor of Pantepopt. During the Latin rule in Constantinople ( 1204 - 1261 ), the Benedictines ruled the monastery. After the fall of Constantinople , the church housed the madrasahs of the nearby Fatih Mosque ; now it is the Eski Imaret Camii mosque .

However, one of the largest Byzantinists and experts on Constantinople , Cyril Mango, proved that the identification of Eski Emaret Jami as the church of Christ Pantepopt, well known from historical sources, is false. In the Novgorod 4th Chronicle there is a story that during the assault of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204 (during the 4th Crusade ), Emperor Alexei V Duca Murzufl ascended the dome of Christ Pantepopt Church and surveyed the crusader fleet in the Golden Horn harbor. Cyril Mango climbed the Eski Emeret Jami dome and found that it was impossible to see the Golden Horn from there , since it was being covered by another hill ^[1] . Thus, at present we do not know the true Christian name of Eski Emaret.

The monastery church that has survived to this day on the slope of the Golden Horn is surrounded on almost all sides by later buildings. The floor of the church serves as the ceiling of the underground reservoir ( cistern ). The Pantepopt Church is the first example of a building in Istanbul built using the mixed masonry technique with a hidden row , which later became very popular in Russia . In addition, this is the only domed building in the city, covered not with lead, but with brick tiles.

Inside the four-pillar temple. In addition to the narthex , a porch was added to the western side at the time of the Paleologists , divided into three parts (side roofs with arches , the central one with a dome ). In addition, on the western side there is an extremely rare architectural element - a gallery in the shape of the letter U, apparently built for the personal needs of the Empress. Gallery windows open inside the temple. The apses of the side naves are trefoil- shaped and are separated from the central apse by the walls.

In 1970 the mosque was restored by the architect Fikret ухuhadaroglu . During the restoration undertaken in the 1970s , the nadaltary minaret was broken, and the original form changed by the Ottomans to helmet-shaped was returned to the dome . The brickwork is extremely decorative: in the design there are meanders , and sun rays, and an imitation of cloisonne enamel . The interior of the medieval temple was not preserved.