Fatih Mosque

About Fatih Mosque

Mosque in İstanbul, Turkey

The Fatih Mosque is one of the greatest Ottoman mosques of Istanbul, in the Fatih district that bears its name, off Fevzi Pasa Avenue on the historical peninsula, named after Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (Fatih), who took Constantinople in 1453. The original mosque was built between 1463 and 1470 by the architect Atik Sinan on the Sultan's orders, on the site of the Church of the Holy Apostles, burial place of the Byzantine emperors for a thousand years, and it was the first great imperial complex in the city after the conquest. The complex (kulliye) included eight madrasas known as the Sahn-i Seman, the most important centre of learning in the empire, teaching theology, law, medicine, astronomy, physics and mathematics, founded with the help of the astronomer Ali Qushji whom Mehmed had invited to his court, together with a library, hospital, hospice, caravanserai, primary school, bathhouse, market and public kitchen. Earthquakes repeatedly wrecked the mosque, and after the devastating quake of 1766 it was rebuilt in 1771 to a different, Ottoman Baroque design with a central dome on four semi-domes, the building standing today. The interior is lavish in ornament and calligraphy, and in the garden behind the mosque stand the imposing tomb of Mehmed the Conqueror and that of his wife Gulbahar Hatun, visited by Muslims for prayer and remembrance. The complex was fully restored in 2009 and again ten years later, reopening to worshippers in 2021. On Wednesdays a huge street market fills the surrounding lanes, and the neighbourhood is one of the most traditional and conservative in Istanbul.

Where:

Istanbul, Türkiye