Katip Şemseddin Mosque

Audio Narration

Construction Year:

Bayezid II period (As I registered in the Foundation Records in 1503)

Location:

Fatih, İstanbul

Ordered by:

Katip Şemseddin (Chief clerk during the reign of Bayezid II)

Architects:

Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles

- Changes after its construction
  • While it was in ruins in 1982, it was repaired and opened for worship with the support of the
    community.
- Prominent features
  • Also known as the “Cankurtaran Mosque”, the building built of stone has a flat roof covered
    with tiles; its interior and exterior walls are covered with cement plaster, and its ceiling is made
    of wood.
  •  Its mihrab is marble; the minbar and the preacher’s pulpit are wooden.
  •  Its ceiling is covered with wood; there are three rectangular windows, one above the other, on
    the left and right walls.
  •  Its minaret has been rebuilt from brick with a single balcony, true to the original.
  •  Its basement is made of stone, and the mosque is accessed by a few steps.
  •  The narthex, which has an open surrounding, is positioned on 4 wooden pillars, and the roof of
    the mosque also covers the narthex.
  • The graveyard contains the graves of the mosque benefactor Katip Şemseddin, İbrahim
    Agha, Başyamak Halil Agha, and the Aghas of Harem-i Hümayun (Imperial Harem) Hamdullah
    Agha and Mustafa Agha.