Arap Mosque

Arap Camii
General view of the mosque building with its sadirvan on the right seen from the courtyard.
Religion
Affiliation	Sunni Islam
Year consecrated	end of 15th century
Location
Location	Istanbul
Location in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul
Geographic coordinates	41°01′27.552″N 28°58′15.744″E / 41.02432000°N 28.97104000°E / 41.02432000; 28.97104000
Architecture
Type	Church
Style	Gothic
Groundbreaking	1323
Completed	1325
Minaret(s)	1

Arap Mosque (Turkish: Arap Camii, lit. 'Arab mosque') is a mosque in the Karaköy quarter of Istanbul, Turkey. The building was originally a Roman Catholic church erected in 1325 by the friars of the Dominican Order, near or above an earlier chapel dedicated to Saint Paul (Italian: San Paolo) in 1233.^[1] Although the structure was altered during the Ottoman period, it is the only example of medieval religious Gothic architecture remaining in Istanbul.

The church was converted into a mosque by the Ottomans between 1475 and 1478, during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II, and became known as the Galata Mosque. It was later given by Sultan Bayezid II to Muslim refugees from Al-Andalus who escaped the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 and settled in the Galata neighborhood of Istanbul (hence its current name, Arab Mosque).