Selimiye Mosque Cathedral of Santa Sophia

Selimiye Mosque Cathedral of Santa Sophia - Mosques - History and Travel Guide of Cyprus

Though from a Christian point of view this great cathedral has been desecrated by its conversion to Muslim use, which has involved the removal of all features abhorrent to the Muslim faith, such as representations of the human figure, it remains one of the greatest Christian monuments in the Near East. Building began in 1193, in the form of a small church to be used for the coronation of King Amaury four years later. Marble decoration from this first building is incorporated in the present north doorways. The foundations of the existing building of early French pointed design were laid in 1209, but the cathedral was not consecrated until 1326. Even so, the ambitious western facade could not have been completed by that date, because a papal bull of 1347 granted an indulgence of a hundred days to the men working on it. The west window between the twin towers made provision for the out-of-door seating of distinguished persons witnessing important celebrations, such as coronations, which were conducted in great processional pomp. Though remains of sculptured figures are still discernible on the exterior, everything of this sort has been banished from the inside of the church. The high altar, the painted screen, the choir stalls and the paintings in the vault were all of renowned beauty. But the Turks should not be blamed for the disappearance of all these treasures, because the cathedral suffered under the Genoese in 1373, the Mamelukes in 1426 and earthquake damage in 1491 and 1547. And a singular advantage is that the purity of the interior design is enhanced by its emptiness. Indeed, the interior is in many respects superior to the exterior, for the unfinished towers, the fiat terrace roofs over the church (peculiar to Gothic architecture in Cyprus ) and the incongruous minarets on both corners of the west front detract somewhat from the sky-piercing ideal expected of cathedrals. Of the five chapels incorporated in the cathedral, the one in the north, originally dedicated to St Nicholas, is now shut off, and its apse, where the altar once stood, provides for access to the women's gallery of the mosque. The placing of the chapel's entrance on the north side of the cathedral suggests that it was designed for ceremonial processions from the palace of the archbishop. A smaller chapel, immediately adjacent, was originally the treasury of the cathedral. The lady chapel in the south transept is now occupied by the mithrab, which orientates the building for Moslem use, and there is a grandfather clock of no great antiquity which is set to Mecca time. The chapel in the second bay from the west end, still on the south side, was dedicated to St Thomas Aquinas and now contains a collection of tombstones of Crusaders which have been removed from the body of the cathedral.

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