Gül Camii

The Gül Mosque (Turkish: Gül Camii) was built as a church during the Roman period in the 11th century, known as the Saint Theodosia Church. After the conquest of Istanbul the church was converted into a mosque in 1499 and took the name “Gül” (English: Rose).nnLegend says; the night before the conquest of Istanbul people filled the church and spread rose petals over the ground in honor of Saint Theodosia. When Ottoman soldiers entered the church and saw the floor covered with rose petals they gave it the name “Rose Mosque”, or Gül Camii.

The w.c. and the shadirvan is out of the mosque the women side is very small but it's a quiet and relaxing place to prey.

From starting out as a Byzantium church, to being degraded for use as a dockland warehouse until it's renovation and conversion into a masjid: the Gül Camii has a fascinating history.nnThere are a couple of tourist information points outside the mosque, but none do it justice. So to fully appreciate the story of the building, I would recommend reading up on Theodosia and the general history of the site.nnToday, the building is a simple masjid in the Ayakapi district. Completely different environment from the rest of the city. Worth a visit.nnThe mosque has a caretaker, who's happy enough to let you go in and look and/or pray.

The mosque is very impressive and its history is very interesting

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