Eyüp Mosque Complex

About Eyüp Mosque Complex

Mosque in İstanbul, Turkey

The Eyup Sultan Mosque is the holiest Islamic shrine in Istanbul, in the Eyup district on the European side near the Golden Horn, outside the historic walls of Constantinople. The complex contains the tomb of the companion Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, standard-bearer of the Prophet Muhammad and his host in Madinah, who died and was buried here during the first Muslim siege of the city in the seventh century. The Turks call him Eyup Sultan out of love and respect. According to Ottoman tradition, the sheikh Aksemseddin located the long-lost grave before the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and in 1458 Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror built the mosque and mausoleum, the first mosque the Muslims built in Istanbul after the conquest. The present building dates from the early nineteenth century in white Ottoman Baroque style. Because of the site's sanctity, new sultans came here in procession along the Culus Yolu, the Accession Way, to be girded with the Sword of Osman at the start of their reigns. The mausoleum stands in a separate building facing the mosque, its interior clad in some of the finest Ottoman tiles, and holds relics attributed to the Prophet; a vast historic cemetery of statesmen and scholars spreads around it. The square in front, with its plane trees, pigeons and families bringing boys in circumcision costumes, is one of Istanbul's most touching spiritual scenes.

Where:

Istanbul, Türkiye