Editing Nicosia (section)

==== Converted cathedral ====
[[File:Nicosia church.jpg|thumb|[[Selimiye Mosque, Nicosia|Selimiye Mosque]], converted from a cathedral as the right of conquest]]
Perhaps the most iconic religious architecture of Nicosia is the Cathedral of Saint Sophia, also known as the Agia Sophia of Nicosia, which was constructed in the year of 1326 as a Catholic church.  It was converted into a [[mosque]] and it is located in North Nicosia. It has historically been the main mosque of the city. As a mosque it is known as the Selimiye Mosque which is housed in the largest and oldest surviving [[gothic architecture|Gothic]] church in [[Cyprus]] (interior dimensions: {{convert|66|x|21|m|ft|abbr=in|disp=or|sp=us}}) possibly constructed on the site of an earlier [[Byzantine]] church.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitcyprus.com/index.php/en/discovercyprus/culture-religion/sites-monuments/item/207-st-paul-s-anglican-church |title=St. Paul's Anglican Church |website=www.visitcyprus.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905061649/http://www.visitcyprus.com/index.php/en/discovercyprus/culture-religion/sites-monuments/item/207-st-paul-s-anglican-church |archive-date=2017-09-05}}</ref>
During the 50-day [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573)|siege of the city in 1570]], the cathedral provided refuge for a great number of people. When the city fell on 9 September, Francesco Contarini, the Bishop of Paphos, delivered the last Christian sermon in the building, in which he asked for divine help and exhorted the people. The cathedral was stormed by Ottoman soldiers, who broke the door and killed the bishop along with others. They smashed or threw out Christian items, such as furniture and ornaments in the cathedral<ref name=kesh>Keshishian, Kevork K. (1978). ''Nicosia: Capital of Cyprus Then and Now'', p. 104, The Mouflon Book and Art Centre.</ref> and destroyed the choir as well as the nave.<ref name=gurkan>{{cite book|last1=Gürkan|first1=Haşmet Muzaffer|title=Dünkü ve Bugünkü Lefkoşa|year=2006|publisher=Galeri Kültür|isbn=9963660037|pages=117–8|edition=3rd|language=Turkish}}</ref> Then, they washed the interior of the mosque to make it ready for the first [[Friday prayer]] that it would host on 15 September, which was attended by the commander [[Lala Mustafa Pasha]] and saw the official conversion of the cathedral into a mosque.<ref name=kesh/> According to [[Fiqh|Islamic jurisprudence]], the main temple of a city conquered by Muslims and not surrendered in peace may be converted to a mosque as a symbol of the takeover and superiority of Islam. This is referred to as "the right of the sword".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-24 |title=Ayasofya kılıç hakkı ne demek? {{!}} STAR |url=https://www.star.com.tr/guncel/ayasofya-kilic-hakki-ne-demek-kilic-hakki-nedir-haber-1560453/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Star.com.tr |language=tr}}</ref> During the same year, the two [[minaret]]s were added, as well as Islamic features such as the [[mihrab]] (prayer niche) and the [[minbar]] (sermon pulpit).{{sfn|Alasya|2002|p=363}}

The first [[imam]] of the mosque was Moravizade Ahmet Efendi, who hailed from the [[Morea]] province of the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bağışkan|first1=Tuncer|title=Lefkoşa Şehidaları (1) |url=http://www.yeniduzen.com/Ekler/adres-kibris/160/lefkosa-sehidalari-1/1465|publisher=[[Yeni Düzen]]|access-date=18 March 2015|date=31 May 2014}}</ref> All imams maintained the tradition of climbing the stairs to the minbar before Friday sermons while leaning on a sword used during the conquest of Nicosia to signify that Nicosia was captured by conquest.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fehmi|first1=Hasan|title=A'dan Z'ye KKTC: sosyal ve ansiklopedik bilgiler|date=1992|publisher=Cem Publishing House|page=129|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSJIAAAAMAAJ&q=%22%C3%A7%C4%B1karken,+fetihten+kalma+bir%22|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref>

Following its conversion, the mosque became the property of the Sultan Selim Foundation, which was responsible for maintaining it. Other donors formed a number of foundations to help with the maintenance.{{sfn|Bağışkan|2013}} Okçuzade Mehmed Paşa, a governor of Cyprus in the 16th century, donated a shop to provide income for the Sultan Selim Foundation; other donations include estates in the countryside and other shops. The foundation employed trustees (''mütevelli'') to look after the funds and transferred 40,000 ''[[akçe]]'' annually to [[Medina]] in late 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jennings |first1=Ronald C. |title=Christians and Muslims in Ottoman Cyprus and the Mediterranean World, 1571-1640 |date=1993 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York and London |page=54}}</ref> During the Ottoman period, it was the largest mosque in the whole island, and was used weekly by the Ottoman governor, administrators and elite for the Friday prayers. In the late 18th century, a large procession that consisted of the leading officials in the front on horseback, followed by lower-ranking officials on foot, came to the mosque every Friday.{{sfn|Bağışkan|2013}}