Ertuğrul Tekke Mosque

The Ertugrul Tekke Mosque sits on the slope below Yildiz Palace in Besiktas and was built in 1887 by Sultan Abdulhamid II. The name doubles as a reference to Ertugrul, father of the Ottoman dynasty's founder Osman I, and to the imperial Ertugrul Cavalry Brigade, which was barracked nearby at Yildiz. The simple single-domed prayer hall on a rectangular plan also functioned as a tekke for the Shadhili Sufi order, whose sheikh maintained close ties to the sultan. Abdulhamid frequently attended Friday prayers here, as it was only a few minutes' walk from Yildiz Palace and short walks were easier for his security-conscious late-Hamidian household to secure. It still works as a neighbourhood mosque with a small cemetery and is largely unnoticed by tourists.