Arab Mosque
The Arab Mosque is a mosque in the Galata neighborhood of the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey. Formerly known as the Church of St. Paolo (San Paolo) or the Church of St. Domenico (San Domenico), the place of worship was converted into a mosque after the city came under Ottoman rule in 1453.The Arab Mosque, still recognizable among the concrete blocks in the urban fabric of Galata with its towering square tower with a pointed cone, is Istanbul's only Gothic church from before the conquest.According to a rumor, it is the first place in Istanbul where the call to prayer was heard. There are two different rumors about its construction. According to the first one, the Arab Mosque is the first mosque in Istanbul, built in 717. At the head of an army of Muslim Arab commanders and Companions who came for the conquest of Istanbul in 717, a commander named Meslama bin Abdulmalik built a mosque and called it the Arab Mosque.
