ABSTRACT
The settlement of the Genoese in Galata during the 13th century constitutes a turning point in the history of Constantinople that generated the prosperity and fame of Galata. Despite its growing significance during the late medieval period, Genoese Galata has not attracted the scholarly attention it deserves, particularly in the field of art history. This chapter aims to contribute to fill this void by studying one of the foremost extant edifices of Genoese Galata: The Church of San Domenico, transformed into the Arap Camii during the Ottoman era. Built by the Dominicans in the Genoese colony of Galata in Constantinople during the Palaiologan period, the Church of San Domenico already mirrored the cultural diversity of the region before the advent of the Ottomans. The edifice possessed a hybrid artistic character by incorporating different elements of Italian Gothic, mendicant and Byzantine architecture and art. This chapter seeks to complete the cultural biography of this exceptional monument by examining the impact of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople on Galata and San Domenico, and their ensuing Islamisation. It studies the architectural and cultural transformations of the building during the Ottoman era against the backdrop of socio-political and religious context of that time.
