Kasım Çavuş Mosque

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Construction Year:

1453 (Masjid) / 16th century (Mosque)

Location:

Eyüpsultan, İstanbul

Ordered by:

Kasım Çavuş (Benefactor); Galip Pasha and Keçecizade Fuad Pasha (Grand Viziers who carried out the restorations)

Architect:

Unknown

- Changes the building has undergone since its construction
  • The Old Hamam (bathhouse), located on the same street as the mosque, was repaired by Sultan Murad III in 1582 and renamed “New Hamam”, and the neighborhood began to be known as “Eskiyeni” (Old-New). As a result, this mosque, which belongs to the Eyüpsultan Foundation, has become famous with this same name.
  • During the reign of Sultan Mahmud I between 1730 and 1754, a minbar was added to the mosque by Kasapbaşı Ali Agha, thus the building was upgraded from a masjid to a mosque status.
  • In 1823, it underwent a major repair by Grand Vizier Galip Pasha; at the same time, a significant part of the mosque was renovated.
  • In 1863, Grand Vizier Keçecizade Fuad Pasha repaired the mosque again and carried out a more comprehensive renovation.
  • In 1948, a large-scale restoration was carried out by the Directorate General of Foundations.
- Prominent features of the mosque
  • The square-plan, cut-stone walled mosque is a typical 16th century Ottoman masjid with a wooden roof. The roof is wooden and there is the original minaret made of cut stone on the right.
  • The entrance to the mosque is through an eaves-lined narthex supported by four marble columns.
  • The founder Kasım Çavuş is buried in the graveyard of the mosque. The Kalima Tawhid (Islamic proclamation of faith) and Fatiha (The first chapter of Quran) are written on his headstone. The grave of his brother Ali Çavuş is in the graveyard of Sofular Mosque.
  • In front of the mosque’s mihrab, there is a classical fountain without an inscription.
  • In the courtyard, to the northeast of the mosque, there is a column capital from the Byzantine period.
  • It is also known as Eskiyeni Mosque.