Şeyh Süleyman Mosque

Audio Narration

Construction Year:

1118-1124

Location:

Fatih, İstanbul

Ordered by:

Empress Irene Komnenos (as part of the Monastery of the Pantokrator)

Architects:

Unknown

- Changes after its construction
  • Shortly after 1453, it was converted first into a dervish lodge and then into a mosque by Sheikh Suleyman Efendi.
  • Following the Cibali fire in the 18th century, during the reign of Sultan Mustafa III, it was restored, and a minbar was added with the efforts of Kazgan Hasan Agha, the chamberlain of Ayşe Sultan.
  • It was used as a mosque between 1930 and 1975.
  • During the roof repair carried out by the Foundations Administration in 1950, it was noticed that there were cubes under the tiles, but the roof was renewed by levelling them without touching this structure.
  • In 1975, the minbar was added again by the Fatih Mufti’s Office and Friday prayers began to be performed.
  • The mosque, which was restored in 2014, has a well that is still used today.
  • Its last restoration was completed in 2017.
- Prominent features
  • The building was used as a tomb chapel or monastery library during the Byzantine period.
  • There are four corner niches in the interior, and underneath is a burial chamber with eight niches.
  • There is a Byzantine cistern nearby.
  • It is a small-scale place of worship, and it gained the identity of a mosque with the elements added during the Ottoman period.