Melek Hatun Mosque

Audio Narration

Construction Year:

15th century

Location:

Fatih, İstanbul

Ordered by:

Melek Hatun

Architects:

Unknown

- Changes after its construction
  • The exact dates of the repairs are not known. The mosque, which had fallen into disrepair over
    time and was even used for purposes other than its intended purpose, was restored to its
    original state in 1957 with the support of the local people.
  • There were windows on the body of the minaret in 1953; a balcony with iron railings was
    added in 1957.
  • During the mosque repair process, the structure in the courtyard was also renewed; a
    reinforced concrete narthex was placed in front of the entrance door of the mosque in the
    garden.
  • The minaret on the right side is made of stone and brick and later plastered with cement; the
    minaret base is six-sided and the body is eight-sided.
- Prominent features
  • The mosque is also known as the “Karaağaç Mosque” because of a large elm tree in its
    courtyard.
  • The base of the minaret is hexagonal and its trunk is octagonal.
  • During the restoration of the mosque, it was renovated with reinforced concrete techniques
    true to the original with the support of the local people in 1957; efforts were made to preserve
    the original appearance of the walls.
  • The harim is entered from the right side of the narthex; the minaret door is immediately to the
    right of the door.
  • The upper gallery, which covers the top of the narthex and one row of the harim, is seated on
    four wooden posts in the harim and the front is closed with a wooden lattice.
  • In addition to the wooden minbar, pulpit and mihrab in the interior, a plaster mihrab was made
    in 2011 in the harim covering five rows.
  • There is a small cemetery at the foot of the minaret containing the tombs of the Mufti of Aleppo
    Ebu-Cevad Efendi and his professor brother Ebu-Yümni Efendi.