Eyüp Sultan Mosque

The Eyüp Sultan Mosque ( tr, Eyüp Sultan Camii) is in the Eyüp district of Istanbul, outside the city walls and near the Golden Horn. On a much older site, the present building dates from the beginning of the 19th century. The mosque complex includes a mausoleum marking the spot where Ebu Eyüp el-Ansari (Abu Ayyub al-Ansari), the standard-bearer and companion of the Prophet Muhammad, is said to have been buried.

Because of its particular sanctity, the mosque played a role in the coronation ceremony for new Ottoman Sultans, who came here - processing along the grand Cülus Yolu (Accession Way) - to be girded with the sword of Osman at the start of their reigns. Today its popularity as a pilgrimage destination means that it is full of shops selling religious items such as prayer rugs and beads. There is also an area set aside for the feeding of pigeons which is regarded as holy in Islam.

The mosque is within short walking distance of the Eyüp tram stop on the T5 line from Alibeyköy to Çibali. It is also served by regular buses from Eminönü, Taksim and other parts of the city.

Religious significance of the mosque

As a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari is greatly venerated by Muslims and the site of his ''türbe'' (tomb) is of particular importance. The mausoleum is positioned on the north side of a courtyard opposite the main entrance to the prayer hall of the mosque.

The mosque is also important for Muslims because it holds relics believed to have belonged the Prophet Muhammad.

Because of the extreme holiness attached to the mosque, many important Ottoman officials and royal family members chose to be buried nearby. They include Sokollu Mehmet Paşa, an Ottoman vizier, or chief minister, who served under sultans Süleyman the Magnificent and Selim II. Also buried here are Siyavuş Paşa, another 16th-century grand vizier, and Lala Mustafa Paşa who conquered Cyprus for the Ottomans in the 16th century. Their tombs stand close to the mosque, as do those of Adile Sultan and Mihrişah Valide Sultan, royal women who were buried in grand complexes along the Cülus Yolu (Accession Road). A little more out on a limb, overlooking the water is the tomb of Sultan Mehmed V which was designed by Mimar Kemaleddin Bey in 1918. Behind the mosque Eyüp Cemetery winds up the hill to a lookout point overlooking the Golden Horn. It is crammed full of the gravestones of those who wanted to be buried close to the mosque.

In modern times the holiness of the mosque means that boys who are about to undergo circumcision (''sünnet'') are sometimes brought here in their special finery. Mass circumcision sessions are organised here for boys from poorer homes (these resumed in 2022 after a break caused by Covid-19 precautions). During Ramadan this is also a popular place for people to break their fast at ''iftar'', with many choosing to picnic in the courtyard of the mosque. Throughout the year Eyüp Sultan is also a destination of pilgrimage (''ziyaret'') for people visiting from all over the country.

History

The mosque is named after Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (Eyüp Sultan in Turkish), a companion and trusted friend of Muhammad, who is believed to have died here during the first Arab siege of Constantinople in the 670s.

A mosque complex (''külliye'') was constructed on the site in 1458 by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II only five years after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Mehmed II was reportedly motivated to build the mosque after his teacher, Akşemseddin, had a dream about building a commemorative mosque at the burial place of al-Ayyub al-Ansari. When al-Ansari's tomb was found in 1458 the mosque was built next to it.

In the early 18th century, Sultan Ahmed III rebuilt the two minarets of the mosque in their current form. By the end of the 18th century the mosque was in a ruinous state, perhaps as a result of earthquake damage, and in 1798 sultan Selim III ordered the whole structure other than the minarets to be pulled down and rebuilt. This work was completed in 1800. The eastern minaret was rebuilt in the original style by Mahmud II in 1822.

Architecture

Mosque and mausoleum

Despite the relatively late date of its reconstruction, the Eyüp Sultan Mosque is still faithful to the Classical style of Ottoman architecture popularised by Mimar Sinan in the 16th century. In particular it has been compared to Sinan's Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque in the Azapkapı neighbourhood, as it follows the same "octagonal baldaquin" design with a central dome surrounded by semi-domes. Much of its decoration, however, is in the contemporary Ottoman Baroque style, with engaged columns, carved foliate and shell shapes, and Ottoman calligraphic inscriptions. The columns have simple, Ionic-like capitals. The undulating decoration of the gateways, ''mihrab'' and ''minbar'' are among the finest examples of this style from the Ottoman Baroque period. The building is primarily built in white stone, with some columns in white marble bound with brass, and some of the decoration gilded. The mosque has two minarets built in an earlier style.

A large outer courtyard of irregular shape leads to an inner rectangular courtyard. An elevated, enclosed corridor running along the south side of the outer courtyard was originally the sultan's private entrance to the mosque and to his loge (private screened balcony) inside the prayer hall. The ''şadırvan'' ( ablutions fountain) is located in this courtyard. The inner courtyard grants access to the mosque on one side and to the shrine of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari on the other. An old plane tree stands in the middle of this courtyard on a rectangular platform or parterre with Baroque marble fountains at its corners. This platform was formerly where Ottoman sultans were girded with the Sword of Osman upon their accession to the throne. A portico of arches and domes runs around three sides of the courtyard, preceding the entrance to the mosque.

The entrance to al-Ansari's mausoleum is preceded by a projecting portico that extends to the edge of the inner courtyard's garden platform. Inside is a vestibule chamber which precedes the tomb chamber itself, which has a traditional octagonal shape covered by a dome. The sarcophagus is enclosed by a Baroque-style silver screen, additionally adorned with framed calligraphy, lamps, and other ornaments.

Tiles

The wall of the mausoleum facing the portico is covered with panels of Iznik tiles dating from different periods and brought together during the reconstruction of the mosque in 1798–1799. The walls of the mausoleum's vestibule are also covered in Iznik tiles, many of them showing the characteristic sealing-wax red glaze known as Armenian bole and dating from around 1580, a highpoint for İznik tile design. Similar tiles in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London may once have covered the walls of the since demolished entrance hall (''camekân'') to the baths. The British Museum also has a panel of three navy and turquoise Iznik tiles, dating from around 1550, that are similar to some of those decorating the outside wall of the shrine. In 2022 a man with a hammer damaged the tiles on either side of the ''dua penceresi'' (prayer window) in the courtyard of the mosque, claiming that devil's horns were incorporated into their design.

File:Tile panel mandorla Louvre OA3919-2-247e.jpg, Tiles now in the Louvre in Paris
File:Panel of three tiles British Museum 1878,1230.534.jpg, Tiles now in the British Museum in London

Other structures

The mosque was once the centre of a larger ''külliye'' (mosque complex) including a ''medrese'' (theological school), ''imaret'' (soup kitchen), and '' hamam'' (public baths). The ''medrese'' was most likely demolished during the present mosque's reconstruction, but most of the ''hamam'' has been preserved and remains in use (although its original changing room has been replaced by a more recent wooden construction). A number of other Ottoman funerary and charitable buildings stand in the vicinity the mosque. One of the closest structures is the well-preserved imaret and tomb complex of Mihrişah Sultan (Selim III's mother), also in Baroque style. It was built several years before Selim III's reconstruction of the mosque and acts as another ancillary structure to al-Ansari's shrine.

Gallery

File:Eyup Sultan Mosque DSCF9633.jpg, Exterior view of the complex, from the west
File:Eyup Mosque 2410.jpg, Exterior view of the complex, from the southwest
File:Eyup Sultan Mosque DSCF9635.jpg, Outer courtyard of the mosque
File:Eyüp Sultan Mosque - Entrance - Quraan.jpg, Gate of the outer courtyard. The Quranic verse in Arabic reads: "The mosques of Allah shall be visited and maintained by such as believe in Allah and the Last Day." ()
File:Eyup sultan camii Istanbul 2013 3.jpg, Ablutions fountain ('' şadırvan'') in the outer courtyard
File:Eyup Sultan Mosque DSCF9636.jpg, View of the elevated private passage formerly used as sultan's entrance to the mosque
File:Eyüp Sultan Mosque - Door - Quraan.jpg, Gate to the inner courtyard. The Quranic verse in Arabic reads: "Peace be upon you! Enter Paradise for what you used to do" (16:32)
File:Eyup Mosque 7211.jpg, Inner courtyard, with portico in front of mosque entrance
File:Eyup sultan camii Istanbul 2013 7.jpg, The tree and garden platform of the inner courtyard (2013 photo taken during restoration works)
File:Eyüp Sultan Mosque - Fountain.jpg, Fountain on the corner of the garden platform
File:Eyüp Sultan Mosque - Fountain - Quraan.jpg, Detail of the corner fountain, with ''tughra'' (imperial seal) and Quranic Verse in Arabic ("A spring from which those nearest to God shall drink", 83:28)
File:Eyup Sultan Mosque DSCF8159.jpg, Main entrance to the mosque's interior


File:Eyup Mosque 2466.jpg, Mosque interior (prayer hall)
File:Eyup sultan camii interior Istanbul 2013 3.jpg, Interior of the mosque dome, flanked by semi-domes
File:Eyup Sultan Mosque DSCF8171.jpg, The sultan's private balcony or loge, in the corner of the prayer hall
File:Eyup Sultan Mosque DSCF9678.jpg, ''Mihrab'' of the mosque
File:Eyüp Sultan Mosque - Mihrab.jpg, Detail of the mihrab
File:Eyup Sultan Mimbar.JPG, ''Minbar'' (pulpit) of the mosque


File:Eyüp Sultan Türbesi 2022 (3).jpg, Exterior of the mausoleum of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, seen from the mosque courtyard
File:Eyupsultan5.JPG, Portico and façade of the mausoleum
File:Tomb of Ayyup al-Ansari DSCF8137.jpg, Vestibule of the mausoleum
File:Tomb of Ayyup al-Ansari DSCF8151.jpg, Doorway to the tomb chamber, from the vestibule

See also

* List of mosques

Notes

References

Sources

*
*
*
*
*
*
*

External links

Photographs of the mosque by Dick Osseman

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyup Sultan Mosque
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1458
15th-century mosques
Buildings of Mehmed the Conqueror
*
Golden Horn
Ottoman mosques in Istanbul