Pammakaristos Church 2.63

Pammakaristos Church, also known as the Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos (, "All-Blessed Mother of God"), is one of the most famous Greek Orthodox Byzantine churches in Istanbul, Turkey. Adapted in 1591 into the Fethiye Mosque (Fethiye Camii, "mosque of the conquest"), it is today partly a museum, the parekklesion. The edifice serves as one of the most important examples of Constantinople's Palaiologan architecture, and the last pre-Ottoman building to house the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It also has the largest amount of Byzantine mosaics in Istanbul after the Hagia Sophia and Chora Church.LocationThe building is located in the Çarşamba neighbourhood within the district of Fatih inside the walled city of Istanbul. Theotokos Pammakaristos overlooks the Golden Horn.HistoryAccording to most scholars, the church was built between the eleventh and the twelfth centuries. Many historians and archaeologists believe that the original structure of the church can be attributed to Michael VII Ducas (1071 - 1078), others put its foundation in the Comnenian period. It has also been suggested by the Swiss scholar and Byzantinist Ernest Mamboury that the original building was erected in the 8th century.