Fatih
(the Conqueror)
Fatih (Conqueror) is
one of the largest and central
districts of Istanbul, Turkey, in the heart of the
city. Since it constitutes the
old quarter of the city that was
taken by Mehmed the Conqueror on
May 29, 1453, even today it is
also called the "real Istanbul"
or the "first Istanbul"
(previously, the district of
Eminonu at the tip of the
historic peninsula was also a
part of the Fatih district.
Today, the districts of Fatih
and Eminonu comprise the
historic peninsula up to the
Theodosian land walls at the
western end of the old city
center, i.e. the areas which
together constituted the Byzantine capital
Constantinople.)
Fatih sits within the Roman walls, is home to the Fatih Mosque, the first Ottoman imperial mosque in Istanbul, and the second prominent Ottoman mosque in the city after the Eyüp Sultan Mosque which is just outside the land walls, near the Golden Horn. Since it is the primary historical area of the city, it contains some of the most important historical monuments in Istanbul. The
main road which cuts through
Fatih is Fevzi Pasa Caddesi,
which leads from the Beyazit
area (which was known as the Forum Tauri in the Roman
period) up to the Theodosian
land walls. For a long time,
this was one of the main
arteries of the city. To the
right (as you come out of the
city) is the equally old Valens
Aqueduct from the Roman period,
built by the Roman emperor
Valens in the 4th century AD.
Due to the fact that the area is
elevated and has a commanding
view of both the Sea of Marmara
and of the Golden Horn, it is
easy to understand why the Byzantines built a number of
palaces here, which were later
surrounded by crowded
neighbourhoods.
Furthermore, the hilltops of Istanbul have been crowned with religious architecture ever since the city was founded, and the area known as Fatih contains some of these hills; such as Constantine's memorial on one of them, and the Church of the Holy Apostles dedicated to the 12 disciples of Jesus (which in 1461 was demolished by Mehmed II to make way for the Fatih Mosque which was built on its place.) Finally, following the Fatih Mosque complex, built on the fourth hill, came many tombs and mosques built in the memory of the Ottoman hierarchy. Ottoman period The
name "Fatih" comes from the Ottoman emperor Fatih Sultan
Mehmed (Mehmed the Conqueror),
and means "Conqueror" in
Turkish, originally from Arabic.
The Fatih Mosque built by Mehmed
II is in this district, while
his resting place is next to the
mosque and is much visited. It
was on the ruins of the Church
of the Holy Apostles, destroyed
by earthquakes and years of war,
that the Fatih Mosque was built,
and around the mosque a large
prayer school.
Immediately after the conquest, groups of Islamic scholars transformed the major churches of Hagia Sophia and the Pantocrator (today the Zeyrek Mosque) into mosques, but the Fatih Mosque and its surrounding complex was the first purpose-built Islamic seminary within the city walls. The building of the mosque complex ensured that the area continued to thrive beyond the conquest; markets grew up to support the thousands of workers involved in the building and to supply them with materials, and then to service the students in the seminary. The area quickly became a Turkish neighbourhood with a particularly pious character due to the seminary. Some of this piety has endured until today. Following the conquest, the Edirnekapi (meaning Edirne Gate) gate in the
city walls became the major exit
to Thrace and this gave a whole
new lease of life to the
neighbourhoods overlooking the
Golden Horn. The Fatih Mosque
was on the road to Edirnekapi and the Fatih
district became the most
populous area of the city in the
early Ottoman period and in the
16th century more mosques and
markets were built in this area,
including: Iskender Pasha
Mosque, once famous as a centre
for the Naqshbandi order in Turkey);
Hirka-i-Sharif Mosque, which
houses the cloak of the Prophet
Muhammad (The Mosque is in
common use but the cloak is only
on show during the month of
Ramadan; the Jerrahi Tekke; The
Sunbul Efendi Tekke and the
Ramazan Efendi Tekke both in the
Kocamustafapaşa district and the
Vefa Kilise Mosque, originally a Byzantine church. The last
four were named after the
founders of various Sufi orders,
and Sheikh Ebü’l Vefa in
particular was of major
importance in the city and was
very fond of Fatih. Many other
mosques, schools, baths and
fountains in the area were built
by military leaders and
officials in the Ottoman court.
From the 18th century onwards Istanbul started to grow outside the walls, and then began the transformation of Fatih into the mass of concrete apartment buildings that we have today. This process has been accelerated over the years by fires which destroyed whole neighbourhoods of wooden houses, and a major earthquake in 1766, which destroyed the Fatih Mosque and many of the surrounding buildings, (which were subsequently rebuilt). Fires continued to ravage the old city, and the wide roads that run through the area today are a legacy of all that burning. There are few wooden buildings left in Fatih today, although right up until the 1960s the area was covered with narrow streets of wooden buildings. Nowadays, the district is largely made up of narrow streets with tightly-packed 5- or 6-floor apartment buildings. |