In the 1990s, I often used to walk past this little brick octagon without realising that it was a Byzantine building. It is on the road down from At Pazarı in Fatih to the Zeyrek Camii (41.019089,28.955256). As of 2014, it is encased in a white shroud as Fatih Belediyesi does whatever it is going to do with it. It forms the wall of a neat little house attached to its northern side. Freely advances the idea that Şeyh Süleyman Mescidi was once a library or chapel of the monastery of the Pantokrator.
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Active work had begun on restoration in August 2015.
It will be interesting to see the use to which Fatih Beledeyisi puts this lovely little building. The restoration appears to be nearing completion. I am hoping that it becomes a library. If so, it will be an Islamic one like the lovely Recai Mehmet Efendi Kütüphanesi [3] in Vefa.
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The roof is complete. August 2015
No such luck. The plan is for Şeyh Süleyman Mescidi to reopen as a mosque in mid-2016. The roof is finished and the shrouds are coming off. In January 2016, the caretaker said that the major building work was due to be completed by February/March. Interestingly, he is Syrian and has a better command of English than Turkish. An army of Belediye labourers is building a wall and a new road surface around the structure.
Şeyh Süleyman Mescidi opened [5] as a mosque in February 2017.
[6]The scaffolding was off in March 2016
[7]The interior takes shape at the end of May 2016
[8]Work is carried out in the vault (May 31 2016)
[9]A new entrance to the vault is complete (Aug 2016)
[10]Şeyh Süleyman Mescidi open for business in summer 2017
[11]Interesting stonework over the window
Basın İlan Kurumu (2017) Restore edilen Şeyh Süleyman Mescidi açıldı. Available online at: http://www.bik.gov.tr/restore-edilen-seyh-suleyman-mescidi-acildi/ [5] Accessed 25th Feb 2017
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