The Legend of Isa Gate

Located in the Fatih district of Istanbul, within the Davutpaşa neighborhood and enclosed in the complex of Cerrahpaşa University Hospital, the building was originally a Byzantine Eastern Orthodox church of unknown dedication. It lies on the southern slope of the seventh hill of Constantinople, overlooking the Sea of Marmara in the neighborhood named ta Dalmatou.

Although the exact origin of the Byzantine building remains uncertain, it was erected along the south branch of the Mese road, just inside the disappeared Wall of Constantine, near an ancient gate, possibly the Gate of Exakiónios or the Gate of Saturninus. A comparison of its brickwork with the Pammakaristos and Chora churches suggests it was built between the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth century in the Palaiologan era. Its proposed identification with the Monastery of Iasités remains uncertain.

Following the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, the gate that gave the building its Turkish name, Isa Kapi, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1509. This event marked a turning point in the destiny of the structure.

Between 1551 and 1560, Vizier Hadim Ibrahim Pasha converted the building into a small mosque. At the same time, Court Architect Mimar Sinan was commissioned to enlarge the complex, building a medrese and a dershane connected to the ancient church. The placement of these religious establishments in sparsely settled neighborhoods along the Theodosian Walls, where the population was predominantly Christian, reflected the vizier's desire to pursue a policy of islamization.

During the seventeenth century, the complex was damaged several times by earthquakes and was restored in 1648. In 1741, another chief eunuch, Ahmet Agha, sponsored the construction of a small fountain. However, the great Istanbul earthquake of 1894 ruined the building, leaving only two walls standing before it was abandoned.

The edifice featured a rectangular plan measuring 17.0 meters by 6.80 meters, with a single nave ending towards the east with a Bema and three apses. The central apse was demolished during the Ottoman period and replaced with a wall. The exterior brickwork consisted of alternating rows of white stones and red bricks, achieving a chromatic effect typical of the late Byzantine period.

The church interior was adorned with frescoes from the Palaiologan age. Two frescoes in the south apse depicting the Archangel Michael and St. Hypatius were still visible in 1930 but have since disappeared. Surviving walls still display stucco decorations and a frieze of stucco arabesques in relief.

Two sides of the court are occupied by the medrese, featuring eleven cells to lodge students, alongside a dershane. Tight space constraints forced Mimar Sinan to adopt a plan that deviated strongly from standard solutions for complexes of this kind. The entrance of the court is adorned with a small sebil.