Analysis of Converted Historical Mediterranean Churches and Mosques

Mediterranean shores are one of the early places, which were inhabited by human beings. Different ethnic groups, religions and architecture were originated and spread on these shores, which are Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Canaanite, Phoenician, Hebrew, Carthaginian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Christian and Islamic cultures. These cultures are based on different of idolatry (paganism), polytheism and Monotheism. Monotheistic religions are the most popular widespread religions in the world especially around the Mediterranean Sea. More than 54% of the world‟s population believes in Monotheistic religions (in the years between 2006 & 2010); 30% believes in Christianity, 20% in Islam, 3.77% in Baha‟i and 0.23% in Judaism. Christianity and Islam were accepted by Mediterranean shores, hence being separating from each other. The largest religion in the northern shore of the Mediterranean for at least a millennium and a half has been Christianity. While the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean for at least a half of the millennium has been Islam. The Mediterranean basin has seen religious alterations from Christianity to Islam and from Islam to Christianity between 7th till 20th century. As a result, many changes took place in people‟s lives, traditions, communities, behaviors and architecture. Religious buildings were also mostly influenced by such shift of religions in which different Roman, Greek and Jewish temples (synagogues) were converted to churches and mosques. In addition, churches were converted to mosques and mosques to churches. iv Because of their religious value, mosques and churches are very important buildings and are of two types, basilica church and chapel in Christianity, Friday mosque and chapel (musala or mosque) in Islam. In general, churches and mosques as the symbols of religions are mostly situated in the centers of the old cities which carry an architectural and historical value in people‟s minds. This study concentrated on individual Friday mosque and basilica church, which were converted in Mediterranean countries between 13th to 20th centuries and are situated in old cities. The study aims to make a comparative analysis of church conversions and mosque conversions in order to find out similarities and differences between architectural sacred spaces, architectural religious elements and structural elements of churches and mosques. Following a qualitative research approach through literature review and site survey, literature survey was made in order to introduce and categorize the components of religious buildings and their conversion factors, levels and types. Moreover, the components of each building are kept in a systematic way, using a table for each building consisting of drawings and photography. The last step was the thesis writing which included a theoretical part to explain the historical background of the study and the analysis of some cases. The analysis was based on comparative study focusing on the study of architectural and structural features of mosques and churches. Keywords: Converted religious buildings, Converted Churches, Converted Mosques, Mediterranean region, Architectural features.