Molla Zeyrek Mosque

This mosque complex was originally an important Byzantine sanctuary comprising a monastery (church, library and hospital), second church and chapel joining the two churches. Empress Eirene had the monastery built between 1118 and 1124 (she features in a mosaic at Aya Sofya with her husband Emperor John II Comnenus) and her husband built the second church and chapel on the site after her death; the mosque occupies the church that Eirene built. The complex is the second-largest still-standing church built by the Byzantines (after Aya Sofya) and was until recently included on the World Monument Fund’s List of the world’s 100 most endangered cultural heritage sites – it’s now undergoing a slow restoration funded in part by the Koç Foundation, which runs the adjacent restaurant, Zeyrekhane.