Fatih Mosque

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque (Fatih Sultan Mehmet Camii) was the second mosque to be built after the conquest of the city, the first one beeing Eyüp Mosque. An imperial mosque was commissioned by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror to commemorate his conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It was built between 1463 and 1471 by Atik Sinan (Sinan the Elder), over the ruins of the Church of the Saint Apostles*. As Mehmet II wished to make his new capital a center of learning, an extensive complex of buildings, the "külliye", was built. It comprised a Koranic school (mekteb), a library and sixteen medreses arranged in two rows of four to the northeast and southwest of the mosque area, which were the first Ottoman educational institutions in Istanbul. Education was no longer based on religious studies only, but now included the rational sciences such as mathematics, astronomy and philosophy. In addition to its educational and religious functions, the külliye also combined economic and social functions with a hospital (darüssifa), a hospice, a soup kitchen (imaret), a caravanserai and a hammam. The complex was restored by Bayezit II following an earthquake in 1509 but it was severely damaged in the 1766 earthquake. Except for the mirhab, the inner courtyard which was preserved with its main portal, its ancient columns supporting the porticoes and its mosaic of tiles ornamenting the tympanum of the windows on the facade of the main portico, the mosque was demolished at Mustafa III's behest and the new construction was completed in 1771. Although the new mosque bears the specificity of the classical mosques of the sixteenth century with its tall central dome held by semi-domes on all four sides, according to the accounts and sketches of travelers and chroniclers, the edifice lost much of its originality and architectural elegance. The decorative painting of the interior reflects the baroque influence on 18th century Ottoman architecture.

In the graveyard on the eastern side of the mosque, the türbe (mausoleum) of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror was rebuilt on its stone base. It is a decagonal structure crowned with an imposing dome. Another türbe is that of Mehmet II's spouse, Sultan Gülbahar. According to different sources, it is said that Gülbahar was a French princess sent to be married to Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Dragases. When Constantinople fell, she was taken to the Sultan's harem. She gave birth to the future Bayezit II. A third türbe was erected for Sultan Naksidil, the mother of Mahmut II. Her birth name was Aimée du Buc de Rivery and she was the cousin of the French Empress Josephine. She was eighteen when, returning from France to Martinique, she was kidnapped by pirates from Algiers and presented as a gift to Abdülhamit I in 1788. While sections of the hospice, the soup kitchen and the caravanserai have survived, the Koranic school, the library and the baths and hospital have been lost. The medreses have been partially rebuilt or modified for urbanistic reasons. Fatih mosque was the scene of many social movements and revolts.