The Eyüp Sultan Mosque and The Külliye

Eyüp, one of the oldest settlements of Istanbul, takes its name from Hz.Halid Bin Zeyd Ebu Eyyüp El-Ensari.

Eyüp Sultan Mosque and Külliye, give the name to the region that they take place in, are on the south coast of Golden Horn.(Külliye is an Islamic-ottoman social complex)

Hz.Eyyubi El-Ensari, one of those who accepted Islam first and later martyrized in the course of Arabic invasion in Istanbul in the 7th century, was buried here and by the orders of Mehmet the Conqueror, a tomb and a mosque were built in this area. The construction of the külliye, including mosque, tomb, madrasah and Turkish bathroom, was started in 1458.The old sycamore in the middle of the yard is as old as the history of the mosque and the mosque is still as strong as that sycamore.Of course it was fixed over for a few times.

The mosque, which was highly damaged by 1766 Istanbul earthquake, was pulled down and rebuilt by the order of Selim III . The mosque, built upon the instructions of Uzun Hüsayin Ağa, was got ready to pray inside by Selim III. As Selim was Mevlevi (whirling dervish) there are Mevlevi sikkes ( species) on the bars of the yard, in which there are also a set and a grass holl. The silver chandeliers in the tomb, embellished with chinas in 16th century, belong to the latest period and the well at the nadir point of the coffin is supposed to be found out in the course of Akşemsettin’s spiritual estimate.There are cypresses and graves around the mosque.The graves of Necip Fazıl, Fevzi Çakmak, Ferhat Pasha, Mehmet Pasha, Ahmet Haşim, Savavuş Pasha, Ziya Osman Saba and Sokullu Mehmet Pasha create an ethereal atmosphere around the mosque.