Zeyrek Mosque (Pantokrator): the Byzantine monastery of the Komnenoi

Updated on October 4, 2026

On a hill in Fatih overlooking the Golden Horn, about ten minutes' walk from the Valens Aqueduct, the Molla Zeyrek Mosque occupies the former Monastery of Christ Pantokrator. Founded by Empress Irene and Emperor John II Komnenos, it was built between about 1118 and 1136: two churches and an imperial funerary chapel linking them. After the conquest of 1453, the main church became one of the city's first mosques; it is named after Molla Zeyrek Mehmed Efendi, a scholar who taught there. Following a restoration from 2009 to 2018 under the General Directorate of Foundations, it officially reopened on 29 May 2019. Allow 20 to 30 minutes, longer if you wander the neighbourhood, see Fatih and Zeyrek.

Highlights

Three churches side by side

The complex lines up the south church, dedicated to Christ Pantokrator and the largest, the north church, dedicated to the Virgin Eleousa, and between them the chapel of the Archangel Michael. Each part has its own main dome. The minaret was added after the conversion into a mosque.

The prayer hall and its Byzantine floor

The south church, used as the prayer hall, keeps marble revetments in the apse. Its opus sectile floor, an inlay of coloured marbles with a zodiac wheel and scenes from the life of Samson, is largely covered by carpet; since the restoration, part of it can be seen under glass panels. The apse windows once held figural stained glass, fragments of which were found in the 1960s.

The funerary chapel of the Komnenoi

The central chapel, dedicated to the Archangel Michael, served as an imperial mausoleum. John II Komnenos, Empress Irene and Bertha of Sulzbach, wife of Manuel I, were buried there. The tombs have gone, but the layout of the building can still be read from outside.

The apses seen from the east

Walk around the building to see its polygonal brick-and-stone apses beneath the domes. The Zeyrek neighbourhood is one of the "Historic Areas of Istanbul" inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985, with its wooden houses and sloping lanes. The Zeyrek Çinili Hamam, restored and reopened in 2023, is a few streets away, see Istanbul's hammams.

Infos pratiques

Tips

Entry is free. This is a working mosque: avoid the five daily prayers and Friday midday, and follow the dress code (shoulders and knees covered, hair covered for women, shoes off), see visiting a mosque in Istanbul. The opus sectile floor is almost entirely under carpet: ask the caretaker politely where the sections visible under glass are. Access to the north and central parts may vary from day to day. Zeyrekhane, a municipal cafeteria run by Fatih council and open daily from 8:30 to 23:00, stands just behind the mosque and looks out over the Golden Horn. Information as observed in October 2026.

How to get there

İbadethane Arkası Sokak, Zeyrek Mahallesi, 34083 Fatih, Istanbul. From the Valens Aqueduct, allow about ten minutes on foot heading north-west along Atatürk Boulevard, then through the lanes of Zeyrek. Metro M2, Haliç station (on the Golden Horn bridge), about 15 minutes uphill on foot via Unkapanı; Vezneciler station, 15 to 20 minutes on foot passing under the aqueduct. Bus, Unkapanı stop, then a short walk uphill through the streets of Zeyrek.