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Haydar Pasha Mosque, the former church of St. Catherine, was built in the 14th century and it follows the southern France architectural style. The church is an elegant building comprised of a central space covered by two groin vaults. It also has an altar which ends with a three sided apse. On the apse’s northeastern side there is a two-storey building with groin vaults. On the apse’s southwestern side there is a small circular tower with a staircase. This tower has been turned into the mosque’s minaret. Of special interest are the building’s three-sided support pillars that are interrupted by oblong windows.
Three entrances lead to the church’s interior. The largest entrance is located at the centre of the west wall and the other two in the west part of the north and south wall. All three entrances are decorated with rich relief decoration and there is a round window (rosette) above the west entrance.
With the island’s conquest by the Ottomans this church was turned into a mosque and named ‘Haidar Pasha mosque’.
References:The Temple of Edfu is one of the best preserved ancient shrines in Egypt. It was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC.
Edfu was one of several temples built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom, including the Dendera Temple complex, Esna, the Temple of Kom Ombo, and Philae. Its size reflects the relative prosperity of the time. The present temple initially consisted of a pillared hall, two transverse halls, and a barque sanctuary surrounded by chapels. The building was started during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes and completed in 57 BC under Ptolemy XII Auletes. It was built on the site of an earlier, smaller temple also dedicated to Horus, although the previous structure was oriented east–west rather than north–south as in the present site.