Affirmation of Identity as Mosque

This shows the roof of Zeyrek Camii, revealing the damage caused by the passage of time through winds, fires, human actions, and other sources of destruction. The imprint of time and the necessity for restoration are apparent in this image. 

This is a photograph of Zeyrek Camii from the early 20th century. It has undergone several rounds of restoration even as its identity as a mosque has remained consistent throughout the years. 

Yet it is important to note that the ancient history and the origins of the complex was never forgotten—Pierre Gilles, a 16^th century French scientist who journeyed to Constantinople and studied its history, produced the seminal book on Constantinople that memorialized the city and its history (1). Thus, despite of the transformation of the complex from a Christian place of worship to a mosque, the memory of complex during the time of the Byzantine Empire is still salient through texts and cultural remembrance, resonating with Nora’s idea of a lieu de mémoire as “a history that is…a ‘rememoration’—a history that is interested in memory not as remembrance but as the overall structure of the past within the present: history of the second degree” (2). This notion of the “overall structure of the past within the present” can also be seen in the age value of the structure because the passage of time has left indelible marks on the complex, including the removal of panels by the Venetians and the wear of the marble floor due to the innumerable footsteps of those who have used the space for hundreds of years. 

While the identity of the structure as a mosque has been solidified since the conquest of Constantinople, it has experienced a series of of restorations due to destructive forces such as a fire in the late 18th century. Although it has continued to function as a mosque, it bore extensive damage so only the Middle Building was used as a mosque when A.H.S. Megaw examined it in 1960, with the mosque then moving to the South Building (3). This illustrates the notion that even when the function of a structure remains consistent and unchanging, the physical spaces that fulfill or serve this function can still change throughout the years depending on constraints and changes brought about by time or other forces. 

(1) "Pierre Gilles | Petrus Gyllius | Constantinople, Author | Italica Press." Pierre Gilles | Petrus Gyllius | Constantinople, Author | Italica Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. 

(2) Nora, Pierre. “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux De Mémoire.” Representations, no. 26, 1989, pp. 7–24. 

(3) Ousterhout, Robert et al. “Study and Restoration of the Zeyrek Camii in Istanbul: First Report, 1997-98.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, vol. 54, 2000, pp. 265–270.