What was saved with great effort was soon lost again.
A Plan to Convert Churches (1584)
In 1584, less than 50 years after the last attempt, a new Sultan decided once more that all Christian churches in the city should be turned into mosques. However, this plan was stopped by an official called the Aga of the Janissaries Guided Tour Ephesus.
A Desperate Patriarch’s Actions
The illegitimate Patriarch Pachomios II removed four marble columns and part of the marble decorations from Pammakaristos. He gave them as a gift to Mehmed Aga, a court official who worked for the Sultan’s mother. In a last effort, Pachomios tried to sell silver religious items and relics to Venetians, but he failed.
Seizure by Sultan Murad III (1587)
In 1587, Sultan Murad III took control of Pammakaristos and turned it into a mosque to celebrate his victory in Azerbaijan. He claimed that Mehmed II had given the church personally, not officially to future Patriarchs, meaning the Sultan had full ownership. After that, Turkish worshippers entered the church, and prayers were said inside Christians in Constantinople After the Conquest.
Religious Tensions
The confiscation of Pammakaristos in August 1587 happened during a time of religious intolerance—not just in the Ottoman Empire but also in Western Europe.
Changes to the Building
The central sanctuary was physically changed by the Turks. Thomas Matthews, in his book Byzantine Churches of Istanbul, describes the alterations:
The original triple arcades were removed and replaced with large arches.
The three apses were destroyed and a domed square room was added to the eastern side of the building.
The windows were redesigned, and the walls were cut back to create more open space.
These changes made it hard to recognize the original design of the church.
