Ayakapı ( tr, "The Gate of the Saint", "The holy gate")Janin (1964) (the toponym comes from the Turkish word ''Aya'', derived from pronunciation of the Greek word ἁγἰα, mean. "female Saint" and the Turkish word ''kapı'', mean. "gate") is a quarter of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is part of the district of

Fatih Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the co ...

, inside the walled city, and lies on the shore of the Golden Horn. During the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era, it was named ''ta Dexiokratiana'' or ''ta Dexiokratous'' in Greek, after the houses owned here by a certain Dexiokrates. Its modern name comes from a church dedicated to Saint Theodosia which, according to Petrus Gillius, stood near the gate. In Ayakapı lies one of the most important surviving Byzantine buildings of the historical peninsula, the

Gül Mosque Gül Mosque ( tr, Gül Camii, meaning Rose Mosque' in English) is a former Byzantine church in Istanbul, Turkey, converted into a mosque by the Ottomans. It is in Vakıf Mektebi Sokak in the district of Fatih, Istanbul, in the neighbourhood of ...

.
Moreover, in 1582 the Ottoman architect

Sinan Sinan (Arabic: سنان ''sinān'') is a name found in Arabic and Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions, Early Arabic, meaning ''spearhead''. The name may also be related to the Ancient Greek name Sinon. It was used as a male given name. Etymology Th ...

built here a Turkish bath, the Ayakapı Hamamı. This structure is currently used as a storage for timber.

Gallery

File:Aya Kapi 8709.jpg, Holy Gate or Ayakapı File:Aya Kapi 8710.jpg, Holy Gate or Ayakapı

References

Sources

* Quarters of Fatih {{Istanbul-geo-stub