Spatial changes occurring with the conversion of bizantian churches into mosques: The case of Gazi Süleyman Paşa mosque

All cities of Turkey in Anatolia and Thrace have been under the domination of societies with different religions and cultures in the historical process. Depending on the change in the demographic structure of the conquered lands during the Ottoman Period, changes occurred in both urban and architectural scales. There have been some changes after the conquest activities in Vize district, which is a district of Kırklareli in Eastern Thrace, also known as Turkish Thrace. After the final conquest of the city in 1453, the Vize Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine church, was converted into a mosque and named Gazi Süleyman Pasha Mosque so that the soldiers brought to the city and the Muslim people settled in line with the settlement policy could perform their prayers. The aim of this study is to examine the process of converting the most important Byzantine church in the city into a mosque after Vize came under the domination of the Ottoman Empire, and to determine the changes and deteriorations in the structure in this context. The spatial changes that took place during the conversion of the Byzantine period churches into mosques were examined through this church structure, which was converted into a mosque after the city came under Ottoman rule in 1453. Within the scope of the study, literature studies were conducted on the historical and urban architectural development of the city of Vize, the causes and characteristics of the conversion of religious buildings in the historical process, and the Byzantine church architecture. The Gazi Süleyman Pasha Mosque, which is the subject of the thesis, was examined in situ, documented with photographs and videos, and necessary survey studies were carried out. The situation of the building in the past periods was researched, and the present situation of the building was compared with the documents and photographs obtained. As a result of the study, the original architecture of the Gazi Süleyman Pasha Mosque (church period) when it was first built, the architecture of the change period after the Ottoman rule (the mosque period) and the features of today's architecture were examined and it was aimed to reveal the changes that the building went through.