Eyüp Sultan Mosque

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.[lower-alpha 1] Much of its decoration, however, is in the contemporary Ottoman Baroque style, with engaged columns, carved foliate and shell shapes, and Ottoman calligraphic inscriptions.[7][19][20][9] The columns have simple, Ionic-like capitals.[20] The undulating decoration of the gateways, mihrab and minbar are among the finest examples of this style from the Ottoman Baroque period.[19] 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.[7]

• Interior of the mosque
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  Mosque interior (prayer hall)
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  Interior of the mosque dome, flanked by semi-domes
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  Dome seen directly from below (through the central chandelier)
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  The sultan's private balcony or loge, in the corner of the prayer hall
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  Mihrab of the mosque
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  Detail of the mihrab
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  Minbar (pulpit) of the mosque

From the outside, 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.[21] The şadırvan (ablutions fountain) is located in this courtyard.[7] 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[9] 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.[1] A portico of arches and domes runs around three sides of the courtyard, preceding the entrance to the mosque.

• Exterior of mosque and courtyards
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  Exterior view of the complex, from the west
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  Gate of the outer courtyard[lower-alpha 2]
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  Outer courtyard of the mosque
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  Ablutions fountain (şadırvan) in the outer courtyard
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  View of the elevated passage formerly used as the sultan's entrance to the mosque
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  Gate to the inner courtyard[lower-alpha 3]
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  Inner courtyard, with portico in front of mosque entrance
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  The tree and garden platform of the inner courtyard (2013 photo during restoration)
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  Fountain on the corner of the garden platform[lower-alpha 4]
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  Main entrance to the mosque's interior

al-Ansari's mausoleum is attached on the northwest side of the mosque's inner courtyard. The entrance is preceded by a projecting portico that extends to the edge of the 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.[1]

• The mausoleum
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  Exterior of the mausoleum of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, seen from the mosque courtyard
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  Portico and façade of the mausoleum
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  Vestibule of the mausoleum
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  Doorway to the tomb chamber. The silver screen around the cenotaph is visible inside.

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.[22] 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.[22] 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.[23][24][lower-alpha 5] 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.[31][32] 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.[33]

• Tilework of the mausoleum
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  Iznik tile panels on the outside wall of the mausoleum
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  Iznik tile panels in the mausoleum's vestibule
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  Example of Iznik tiles from their best artistic period, inside the vestibule
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  Detail of some tiles in the vestibule
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  Detail of some tiles in the vestibule

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).[23] 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.[34]