Changes After Construction
According to the surviving historical inscription of the structure, also known as the Hacı Beşir Ağa Zawiya, it was built in 1745 as an independent building in its own right.
The structure, allocated for the use of members of the Naqshbandi order, was repaired by Sultan Mahmud II between 1826 and 1839.
After the closure of tekkes and zawiyas in 1925, it was used for a long period as a shelter for homeless and poor families.
Following a major fire in 1950, the tekke was restored by the Directorate of Foundations and was used to store the belongings of closed political parties.
It was later restored again in 1964 and finally in 2010, acquiring its present form.
Today, it is used by the Istanbul Governorship Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation Directorate.
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It was built as the tekke unit within the külliye consisting of a mosque, library, sebil, primary school, and madrasa.
According to the census carried out in 1885, only five people were living in the tekke, and the structure had begun to lose its former vitality.
The tekke consists of 12 dervish cells, a kitchen, dining hall, selamlık, and tevhidhâne.
The structure is considered among the early examples of stylistic experimentation shaped by Western influences in mid-18th-century Istanbul.
Hacı Beşir Ağa, who administered the Ottoman imperial harem continuously for 30 years between 1717 and 1746, became one of the most powerful and influential figures of the palace.
Although not certain, according to many historians Architect Çelebi Mustafa Ağa undertook the design of the külliye and the tekke.
