AS AN OTTOMAN CITY

ISTANBUL
The ımportance of the conquest
 The conquest of Istanbul was very important for
the Muslims because of the Prophet hadith
which said:
 One day Contantinople will definitely be
conquered. What a good amir and what a
good army is the one that will accomplish
this.”
 Hence, Mehmed II and the Ottoman army were
really aware of the significance of the
conquest.
 Ottoman dervishes accompanied with Ottoman
army during the conquest.
 There is also number of ordinary people who
want participating in the conquest of
Constantinople to be the recipient of the
What will happen after the conquest?

 However, they had different ideas about

what will happen after the conquest;
 will they destroy this infidel city or

 will they make it an Islamic city?

 The process which will begin after the

conquest would be determined
according to these approaches.

After the conquest
 Istanbul was troubled with chaos and
anarchy during the first days after the
conquest.
 After the conquest of Constantinople by
Mehmed II, there were three important
problems.
 To revitalize city in terms of economics
and social life
 To repopulate
 To Islamize
URBANIZATION PROCESS IN THE NEWLY
ACQUIRED CITY: REPOPULATION

 Mehmed II’s policy towards the reconstruction of

Contantinople was very different from the other newly
conquered cities.
 As in the case of other newly acquired cities, Turks and
other Muslim populations from different regions of
Anatolia was forced to immigrate to newly conquest
cities in order to provide security and convert them into
Islamic cities.
 In the case of Istanbul, Mehmed II forced Greek and
different ethnic populations to settle in Istanbul as well
as Muslim subjects.
 Especially, encouraging measurements for the settlement
of Greek population in Istanbul caused a discontent
among Muslim subjects.
 According to some of them; Constantinople would
destroyed or become an Islamic city, there is no an other
alternative way.
 Hence, some Muslims were not willing to live in such a
AşIkpaşazade
 “Sultan Mehmed Han Gazi kim İstanbul’u feth
etdi subaşılığını kulı Süleyman Beg’e verdi. Ve
cemi vilayetlerine kullar gönderdi kim: “Hatırı
olanlar gelsün, evler, bağlar, bahçalar
mülklüğe gelüb dutsun, dedi” dedi, ve her kim
geldiyse verdiler; bu şehir bunun ile ma’mur
olmadı. Bu kez Padişah hükm etti kim ganiden
ve fakirden evler süreler. Her vilayetin
kadılarına ve subaşılarına hüküm ile kullar
gönderdiler. Anlar dahi hüküm mucebince
mübalağa evler sürüb getürdiler. Ve bu gelen
halka dahi evler verdiler....”
 Aşıkpaşağlu, Tevarih-i Al-i Osman, p. 193, in
Osmanlı Tarihleri, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul,
1949

ARCHITECTURE AFTER THE CONQUEST:
walls
 The conquest of Constantinople and the
reign of Mehmed II mark a turning
point in both architectural and
historical consciousness.
 One of first orders of Mehmed’s as the
governor of the city, was to rebuild the
walls.
 The main reason was the anxiety of
Mehmmed II about the capturing of
Istanbul by the Crusaders.
Hagia Sophia
 After some measurements to defend
Istanbul from possible attacks, Mehmed II
directed his attention to convert
Constantinople into an Islamic city.
 He converted the church of Hagia Sophia
to a mosque following the conquest of
Constantinople.
 It was clearly done for its symbolic content.
 The conversion involved minimal physical
transformation, and even its name
remained the same in Turkish, Ayasofya
Camii.
 Its architecture and mosaic decoration
It is a mixture
 In addition, Muslim and Ottoman symbols were
introduced into Hagia Sophia, including the
first minaret and the mihrab, and other
mosque furnishings.
 There was still a big dispute about the
restoration of Hagia Sophia;
 Some of the Ottoman dignitaries argued that
Hagia Sophia need not to be preserved since
it had been built by non-Muslims.
 This point shows that, despite largely successful
official efforts to Islamize the building, its
Christian memory had not been completely
erased.
Hagia Sophia as Museum
 Half a millennium later, for example, Atatürk
performed a similar symbolic transformation.
 As he secularized the Turkish state, he
secularized Hagia Sophia.
 These two conversions of Hagia Sophia from a
church to a mosque and then a museum are
very important.
 First one is important for the representation of
Muslim power over the Christian world.
 The second one is important for the
representation of westernization and
modernization of Turkey. It meant that Turkey
became a part of western world.
Abu Eyyub El-Ensari
 Islamizationprocess of Istanbul has continued with other
kinds of projects.
 Evliya Çelebi said that Mehmed II ordered a search for the
burial place of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari.
 He was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, who died
during the Arab siege of the city in 674-76.
 In 1458, Mehmed II built a complex including the tomb of
El-Ensari
 Ayyub El-Ensari’s tomb rapidly became the most sacred
place in Istanbul.
 Later, each Sultan after accession to the throne visited the
tomb.
 Therefore, some historians thought that the discovery of
Ayyub’s tomb was invented for political reasons .
 They argued that Mehmed II’ tried to realize cultural and
religious conversion of Constantinople into Istanbul.

**


EYUP COMPLEX
Cülus yolu
Mehmed reşad: from dolmabahçe to eyup sultan
Fatih Camii
 The construction of the Fatih Camii is
recognized as one of Mehmet's important
symbolic acts of refoundation.
 It was constructed between 1462 and 1470.
 It replaced the old Byzantine Church of the Holy
Apostles (Havariyyun Church) and the Tomb
of Constantine.
 There were reused building materials from the
church, such as column pieces and stone
blocks of the foundations especaially in the
courtyard.
 Mehmed II’s biographer Tursun Bey wrote that
Mehmet had "constructed a great mosque
(Fatih Mosque) on the design of Ayasofya,
combining all the characteristics of Ayasofya.
Fatih Complex
 The original complex included a set of well-planned
buildings constructed around the mosque.
 It included eight medrese, library, hospital, hospice,
caravanserai, market, hamam, primary school and public
kitchen (imaret) which served food to the poor.
 Various türbe were added at a later dates.
 The original mosque was badly damaged in the 1509
earthquake, after that it was repaired, but was then
damaged again by earthquakes in 1557 and 1754 and
repaired yet again.
 It was then completely destroyed by an earthquake on 22
May 1766 when the main dome was collapsed and the
walls were irrepairably damaged.
 The current mosque (designed on a completely different
plan) was completed in 1771 under Sultan Mustafa III by
the architect, Mimar Mehmet Tahir.

Fatih
Fatih Külliyesi
(Cami-
Medreseler-
Kütüphane-
Türbeler-
Kervansaray-
Tabhane-
Çarşı-Hamam)
Fatih-İstanbul
 Süleymani Ayasof Sultan Ba
ye Camii ya Nuru Ahme Şe
Ye yez
Camii osma d hza
ni id
niye Camii de
Ca
Rü Ca Camii Me
mii
st mi Fatih
hm
e Camii
ed
m Ca
Pa mii
şa
Ca
mi
i
Fatih Sultan Mehmed Han
Türbesi ve Fatih Camii
Fatih Sultan
Fatih