Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
last and best known work was
he Balance of Truth,
where he writes
of the beatific vision in which the Prophet inspired him to go on
with his work. his reminds one of Evliya Çelebi and the remarkable
vision which he had in the mosque of Ahi Çelebi, some 500 metres
removed from Kâtip Çelebi's grave and three decades earlier in time.
What a town Ottoman Stamboul must have been in those days, to
inspire visions such as theirs.
PRIMARY SCHOOL OF ZENBELLİ ALİ BABA
We now cross Atatürk Bulvarı and take the stepped pathway beside
the road which winds uphill directly opposite the mosque. A short
distance up the hill, at the second turning, we find a small mektep in
a walled garden. The mektep has recently been restored and is now
used as a children's library; it is a very pleasing example of the minor
architecture of the early sixteenth century. It was built by the Şeyh-ül
Islam Ali bin Ahmet Efendi, who died in 1525
.
The founder is buried
beneath a marble sarcophagus which stands in the mektep garden.
THE CHURCH OF THE PANTOCRATOR
Taking the street to the right past the entrance to the mektep, we
come almost immediately to a picturesque square lined on three sides
with old wooden houses. On the eastern side of the square we see
the former monastery church of the Pantocrator, known locally as
Zeyrek Camii. The Pantocrator is a composite building consisting
of two churches and a chapel between them; the whole complex was
built within a period of a few years, between about 1120
and 1136.
The church was converted into a mosque soon after the Conquest
by Molla Mehmet Zeyrek and came to be called Zeyrek Camii. The
mosque is now confined to the south church.
The monastery was founded and the south church built by the
Empress Eirene, wife of John II Comnenus, some years before her
death in 1124;
it was dedicated to St. Saviour Pantocrator, Christ the
Almighty. In plan the church is of the four-column type, with a central
dome, a triple apse, and a narthex with a gallery overlooking the nave.
(The columns have as usual been removed in Ottoman times and
replaced by piers.) This church preserves a good deal of its original
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