Fatih Mosque

It is believed that Fatih Kulliya, from which Fatih district, one of the oldest distriets of Istanbul, gets its name, was built between 1463 and 1470. Ten years after his conquest of Istanbul, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, (Mehmet the Conqueror) commissioned the project in order "to leave a great monument of his sultanate," which would become a tradition followed by succeeding sultans. Fatih Mosque, which was constructed on one of the hills characterizing the historic peninsula, is the first large Ottoman building located at the Centrum of the city of Istanbul. In the region where the mosque stands, there also used to be a Byzantine necropolis (cemetery). Emperor Constantine is buried in this cemetery. Here, you can also find the tombs of Mehmet the Conqueror and his wife on the kiblah (reserved for nobility) side of the mosque, which was built by Architect Sinan. it is known that Ottoman sultans traditionally visited the tomb of Mehmet the Conqueror after their traditional ceremony of girding the sword at Eyup Sultan Mosque.

The building, whieh was almost completely destroyed except for its courtyard in the 1766 earthquake, was reconstructed rapidly. However, the original architectural plans of the mosque were not used in the repairs, which were undertaken 33 years after its original construction, and thus, very incomplete technical information of the first large Ottoman building of Istanbul exists today.