The Monastery of the Mother of God the All-Holy (Pammakaristos) was founded around 1050 by Ioannes Komnenos, the father of the emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118), who later was buried there. The church is the oldest surviving example of the so-called ambulatory type in Istanbul and is shown here in its original shape. In the 14th century, outer halls and a grave chapel to the south were added. The monastery was a nunnery until 1456, then served as the seat of the greek patriarch until 1591, when the church was converted into a mosque.