Fenari Isa Mosque
Fenari Isa Mosque (Turkish: Molla Fenari Isa Camii), in Byzantine times known as the Lips Monastery, is a mosque in Constantinople, made of two former Eastern Orthodox churches.
History
The church was built in 908 on the remains of another shrine from the 6th century. After the Latin invasion and the restoration of the Byzantine Empire, between 1286 and 1304, Empress Theodora, widow of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, erected another church dedicated to St. John the Baptist south of the first church.
In 1497–1498, shortly after the Fall of Constantinople and during the reign of Sultan Bayezid II (1481–1512), the south church was converted into a mescit (a small mosque). The edifice burned down in 1633, was restored in 1636 by Grand Vizier Bayram Pasha, who upgraded the building to camii (mosque) and converted the north church into a dervish lodge.
Database entry
Built in 908 CE on the remains of a shrine from the sixth century, the Fenari Isa Mosque first began its worldly service as a nunnery inaugurated by Byzantine admiral Constantine Lips.
Henceforth referred to as the Lips Monastery, it was one of the largest of its kind in Constantinople. After the restoration of the Palaologian dynasty in 1261, the widow of Emperor Michael Palaiologos built a church just south of the Monastary, which – over the next few centuries – was gradually built up and renovated to such an extent that the two structures became one.
As an interesting side note: Admiral Constantine Lips had a son named Bardas Lips. I just think that deserves mentioning.