Eyüpsultan

Eyüpsultan, historically known as Eyüp, is a municipality and district on the European side of Istanbul Province in northwestern Turkey. Covering approximately 228 square kilometres and recording a population of 422,913 in 2022, the district stretches from the head of the Golden Horn northward to the Black Sea. It borders Sarıyer, Kağıthane, Beyoğlu, Gaziosmanpaşa, Bayrampaşa, Fatih, Sultangazi, Başakşehir and Arnavutköy. Its present boundaries reflect successive changes to Istanbul’s administrative structure, including the transfer of the Yayla area to Sultangazi in 2009. The name derives from Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, an important companion and standard-bearer of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who, according to Islamic tradition, died during the Arab siege of Constantinople in the seventh century. Following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, a tomb believed to be Abu Ayyub’s was identified in the area. Sultan Mehmed II ordered the construction of a marble tomb and the adjacent Eyüp Sultan Mosque. The site subsequently became one of Istanbul’s most important Muslim pilgrimage destinations and a major centre of Ottoman religious symbolism. Ottoman sultans traditionally received the Sword of Osman at the mosque during their accession ceremonies, reinforcing Eyüp’s political and spiritual significance. The district also has deep Byzantine and Ottoman urban history. In the Byzantine period, the settlement was associated with Kosmidion, a locality named after the monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian. The site was involved in imperial ceremonies, military episodes and negotiations from late antiquity through the Byzantine civil wars, the Crusader campaigns and the final centuries of the empire. After the Ottoman conquest, the area developed around the mosque, cemetery and religious institutions. Its cemeteries, including the extensive Eyüp Cemetery, became desirable burial places for officials and other prominent residents. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, population growth and migration from the Balkans and Caucasus helped turn Eyüp into a substantial settlement. Industrialization along the Golden Horn changed its character further. Feshane, a factory producing fezzes for the Ottoman military, became one of the district’s best-known industrial sites; its historic building is now used as an exhibition venue by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Industrial expansion, road construction and pollution later displaced gardens and flower fields around Alibeyköy and made the Golden Horn’s shoreline less attractive. The area was also affected by British bombing during the First World War. Eyüp became a district centre in 1936 after territories formerly associated with Fatih, Çatalca and Sarıyer were combined. Its administration later included areas that became Gaziosmanpaşa and Bayrampaşa. From the late twentieth century onward, environmental rehabilitation and the closure or removal of some factories improved parts of the waterfront. Today the district combines dense residential neighbourhoods, transport and industrial zones, historic cemeteries, religious monuments, cultural facilities and recreational destinations. The Eyüp Sultan Mosque and tomb remain the district’s defining public institutions and attract tourists, Friday worshippers, Ramadan visitors and pilgrims attending weddings or circumcision celebrations. Commercial activity around the complex includes religious books, prayer beads, prayer mats, scented oils, dates and other devotional goods. Ramadan food tents and performances of Ottoman military music contribute to the area’s distinctive visitor culture. Other notable landmarks include the Mihrişah Sultan Complex, the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha complex, the Zal Mahmud Pasha Mosque, historic tombs and the Pierre Loti Café, reached from the Golden Horn by cable car and known for its panoramic view. The district also hosts the main building of Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University in a historic structure. Eyüpsultan is therefore both an administrative unit of metropolitan Istanbul and a prominent landscape of Islamic heritage, Ottoman memory, Byzantine history and modern urban change.

The area now known as Eyüpsultan was settled in the Byzantine period and was associated with Kosmidion, a locality that grew around a monastery dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian. The monastery was established in late antiquity and was renovated under Justinian I and later Byzantine rulers. Kosmidion served as a place of imperial residence, military activity and diplomatic encounters. It was involved in episodes connected with Byzantine civil wars, the First and Fourth Crusades, the Latin occupation of Constantinople and the empire’s conflicts with Genoese and Catalan forces. The site was also used for the temporary confinement of senior churchmen and hosted notable imperial visitors. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the area was renamed Eyüp in honour of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. Sultan Mehmed II ordered the construction of a tomb and mosque after the reported rediscovery of Abu Ayyub’s burial place. The complex became a sacred centre for Ottoman Muslims, and the ceremonial presentation of the Sword of Osman to newly acceding sultans made the district an important site of dynastic legitimacy. Mosques, schools, dervish lodges, fountains and tombs were subsequently built nearby. The surrounding cemetery expanded into one of Istanbul’s most prestigious burial grounds. Christian residents were prohibited from living in the area in 1581, although Christian churches and cemeteries remained elsewhere in the wider district. From the seventeenth century, migration and population growth transformed Eyüp into a major settlement outside the historic core. Industrial facilities were established along the Golden Horn, including Feshane, which produced military fezzes. The district’s religious economy expanded alongside industry, with markets, cafés and shops serving residents and pilgrims. Industrialization eventually contributed to severe Golden Horn pollution and the loss of agricultural and horticultural land around Alibeyköy. Eyüp became an administrative district centre in 1936. Its boundaries and subordinate areas changed several times as Istanbul expanded and new districts were created. The area suffered wartime disruption during the First World War and later developed a predominantly working-class character as affluent households moved toward the Asian side of Istanbul and the Bosphorus. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, factory closures, environmental rehabilitation and waterfront improvements helped restore parts of the Golden Horn. The district’s religious identity also became more visible as conservative Muslim families and visitors increasingly used the area. In the present day, Eyüpsultan combines a large metropolitan municipality with a historically important neighbourhood centred on the Eyüp Sultan Mosque. It attracts religious pilgrims, domestic visitors and international tourists, especially on Fridays and during Ramadan. The district’s heritage includes Byzantine remains, Ottoman mosques and complexes, extensive cemeteries, Feshane and the Pierre Loti viewpoint. Its official identity reflects both its administrative role within Istanbul and its continuing importance as one of Turkey’s best-known Islamic heritage districts.

• 2009

  Boundary adjustment

  [1]Eyüpsultanen.wikipedia.org

  The transfer of the Yayla area to Sultangazi helped establish the district’s present boundaries.

• 1936

  Eyüp becomes a district centre

  [1]Eyüpsultanen.wikipedia.org

  Eyüp was established as a district centre after territories associated with Fatih, Çatalca and Sarıyer were reorganized under the new district.

• 1453

  Post-conquest religious foundation

  [1]Eyüpsultanen.wikipedia.org

  Following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II ordered the construction of the tomb and mosque associated with Abu Ayyub al-Ansari.

A historic Istanbul district positioned around Islamic pilgrimage heritage, Ottoman monuments, cemeteries, cultural tourism and Golden Horn-to-Black Sea urban geography.

1. 1Eyüpsultanen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Eyüpsultan Municipalityeyupsultan.bel.tr