Eyüp Sultan Mosque

The Eyup Sultan Mosque at the northern end of the Golden Horn is Istanbul's most important Muslim pilgrimage site. It rises above the presumed tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion and standard-bearer of the Prophet Muhammad who died during the first Arab siege of Constantinople around 670. Sultan Mehmed II built the first mosque on the spot immediately after the conquest of 1453; the present building is essentially a Baroque reconstruction commissioned by Sultan Selim III in 1800 after an earthquake destroyed the earlier structure. To this day Ottoman sultans were symbolically girded here with the sword of Osman I. Visitors find a lively, pilgrim-filled courtyard where religious life is openly present; non-Muslim guests are welcome if respectful.