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

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It is part of the district of

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

, inside the walled city, and lies on the shore of the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...

. During the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

era, it was named ''ta Dexiokratiana'' or ''ta Dexiokratous'' in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, 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.
Moreover, in 1582 the Ottoman architect Sinan 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