Eyüp Sultan Camii - İstanbul's Most Holy Shrine.

I've been wanting to do this photo trek for so long that I am so glad I finally did it. I did not disappointed me, I enjoy every bit of it even if my photos were not so good.  If you have few days in Istanbul you might consider a morning worth visit.

Eyüp Sultan Camii

At the far end of the Golden Horn on the southern shore, there stands a site that might be  familiar to all Turks but less known to foreigners and that is the shrine at Eyüp, built to commemorate Eyüp Sultan, the standard bearer to the Prophet Mohammed who was killed during the Ummayad siege of İstanbul in 668-9.  The area around the shrine is richly endowed with mosques, dervish lodges and cemeteries full of beautifully carved headstones.  And at the top of the hill, accessible also by cable car, is the cafe associated with the French romantic novelist Pierre Loti, who inspired so many lovers. This cafe is famous also for it's views of the Golden Horn.

 

Eyüp İskelesi. View from the ferry boat.

 You can get to Eyüp by taking bus Nos. 36CE, 44B o 99 along the shore road from Eminönü or Nos. 55T from Taksim, but it is much more enhoyable to catch the Golden Hoorn ferry that you can take from both Eminönü or Karaköy.

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 Eyüp Sultan Mosque

Ebu Eyüp el-Ensari was the standard bearer who accompanied the Prophet Mohammed on his many military campaigns and went to become his close friend.  So when Sultan Mehmed II's teacher Akşemseddin claimed to have found his remains in İstanbul immediatel after the conquest of İStanbul in 1453, the Conqueror was only too pleased that the first mosque built after his victory should be dedicated to this important man.

Eyüp Sultan Mosque view from the back.

Interior

 İnside the mosque itself honey-colored walls set off the perfection a huge chandelier that is suspended over a sea of turquoise flower carpet.  Of the mosque's complex only the hamam survives, the medrese and soup kitchen having been demolished long ago to create pedestrianized Eyup Square.  The hamam was recently restored.

 

  Mihrab and marble pulpit.

Duome.

Turquoise flower carpet.

 

Marbre pulpit.

Flower chandelier.

Stairs to the Women Prayer section.

View from the women prayer section.

Women prayer section.

 

Women prayer section.

Women prayer section.

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Exterior

The mosque is approaced via double courtyard adorned with venerable plane trees.  It has one main duome and two minarets.  The original mosque was destroyed in an earthquake and the present one was constructed in its place in 1800. On Fridays, holy days for Islam, throngs of the faithful visit the mausoleum. The old trees, flocks of pigeons, the praying believers and the visiting crowds create a mystical and colorful atmosphere around the mosque and the mausoleum. The walls of the mausoleum in the courtyard are covered with tiles from different periods.

Eyüp Square.

Ablution fountain.

Ablution Fountain.

Ablution Fountain.

EbuEyüp El-Ansar's Tomb is being restored and this pannel covers restoration process.

İnternal patio.

Two Minarets.

Pedastrian Square.

Cemetery behind the Mosque.

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The Cemetery

Once the mosque had been built, many dignitaries wished to be buried close to someone shom they believed could intercede for them after their death, ans so built their own mosques here too. Since the wealthy had much the same thought in mind, many of theme were buried here, and the local cemeteries now form outdoor museums of the fones Ottoman calligraphy and stone carving.

 Tomb of Sokullu Mehmed Pasha, Grand Vizir of the Ottoman Empire.

Amid the many large tombs to be seen around the Eyüp Sultan Mosque it's worht looking for that of Sokollu Mehmed Paşa, which was designed for the powerful Grand Vizir of Sinan in C.1572 and contains some wonderful stained glass.

Mausoleums

Stairs to the main Square

Stairs that goes thru the cemetery to the top of the hill.

Eyup Cemetery view from the ferry boat.

View of Eyüp mosque from the cemetery.

Cemetery paths.

Cemetery watchers.

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Pierre Loti Cafe

The famous Pierre Loti Cafe is also in this district. The well-known poet and author Loti was enraptured by Istanbul and he came here often to watch the beauties of the Golden Horn of those days. The view from this small cafe and the terrace, particularly during full moon, leaves long-lasting impressions on the visitors.

Pierre Loti Cafe

"There is a splendid view from my roof... the gloomy plain of Eyoub, its sacred mosque rising in marble whiteness from the mysterious depths of immemorial trees... the vast cemeteries that form a veritable city of dead" Aziyade by Pierre Loti, 1877.

View of the Golden Horn from the Teleferic.

View of the Golden Horn, Bahariye İslands. 

View of the Bahariye İslands.

  Lover's view from Pierre Loti Caffe

  If you are on your own this place is so peaceful.

 View of the Golden Horn from the Pierre Loti Café.

İ really feel I have to go back and spend more time at the top of the hill and walk more over the Cemetery perhaps doing the cemetery excursion that goes along the main tombs.  There is always something left to see.   As of now,  I hope you enjoyed the views!

Soreya Reyes

www.searchingforemotion.com

STREET LIFE AND DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
Twitter:  @street_photos_
Instagram:  street.photos.soreyar

Balat - Old Jewish Quarter

Today we are going to visit the district of Balat on the southern shore of the Goldeh Horn, between Fener and Ayvansaray.  Balat was always a poorer neighborhood than Fener with which is ofter paired.  İt has a large jewish population, which means that several important synagogues and other Jewish establishments survive here alongside a mixure of churchues and mosques.

High School of the Greek Orthodox Community.

The nicest way to arrive is by ferry from Eminönü or Karaköy, but you can also catch a bus from Eminönü (No. 99A) or Taksim (No. 55T).  I did the whole neighborhood walking from Eminönü  and I just don't know when Fener district finishes and Balat starts. 

Balat's Old Houses.

Balat's original community was made up of Jews form Macedonia.  However  in 1492 Sultan Beyazid II invited the Spanish Jews who had been expelled by Ferninand and İsabel to settle here, thus superimposing a population of Jueo-Espanyol speakers (and latino writers) on the original Greek speakers.  Later more refugees arrived first from Portugal then from Rhodes, and Balat became known as "Yahudi Balat" (Jewish Balat). 

Balat's Old Houses.

Although there were once 19 synagogues in the area, no more than handful of Jews still live in Balat, most of them long ago emigrated to İsrael and their place have been taken by poor imigrants from Eastern Turkey.

Many of the houses and shops along this street have been restored by the European Union and UNESCO.  At is easterly end where Balat merges into Fener there's a large walled compound with and old brick building clinging on to the one end.

Wall were Balat merges into Fener.

Behind the wall, but very visible, there are actually two churches, one dedicated to St. George and other Panagia Paramithas (St Mary the Compforter). 

 

 İronically, Balat takes its name from the Greek word "palation" (palace) a reference to its proximity to the Balchernae Palace. 

The houses  are usually three-story, narrow front face, which come as second and third floors, and big windows in the buildings.

View of the Golden Horn from one of the streets.

Balat street scenes.

İt is common to find kids playing on the streets.

İf you walk along Leblebiciler Caddesi you will come to Balat's atractively old fashioned shopping area, where small family-owned shops are accommodated in a variety of buildings of different ages.

  A places that sells old photos.

Balat's street life.

 Balat's street life.

 Simit vendor.

Balat's hold houses.

 Most famous of İstanbul's old synagogues, the Ahrida Synagogue, also called the Okhrida, is at no. 9 on the street officially named Vodina Caddesi, but often called Kürkçü Çesme Sokak. The Ahrida and nearby Yanbol are said to take their names from the towns in Macedonia from which their founding congregations migrated in Byzantine times. The foundations of the Ahrida may date from the late 1400s, or may be even older.

For security reasons if you want to visit İstanbul's synagogues you must apply in advance to the Chief Rabbinate in Büyük Hendek Sokak, Galata (Tel. 0212-2441980).  You will need to fax your passport details to get an appointment. Visists ae barely encouraged.

İt is a pitty but I still haven't done the Synagogues tour in İstanbul.  There is always something left out to keep discovering this amaizing city.

Soreya Reyes

www.searchingforemotion.com

STREET LIFE AND DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
Twitter:  @street_photos_
Instagram:  street.photos.soreyar