Eyupsultan Mosque stands at the top of the Golden Horn, built by Fatih Sultan Mehmed in the late 1450s around the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion and standard bearer of the Prophet Muhammad who died during an Arab siege of Constantinople. The district governor’s office describes it as the first structure the Turks built in Istanbul after the conquest. Entry is free, non Muslims may visit outside prayer times, and the district around it is a working pilgrimage site rather than a monument with a ticket desk.
The mosque is visible from the water on the return leg of the Golden Horn cruise route, sitting behind the Eyupsultan shoreline with Pierre Loti Hill rising above it.
What is the significance of Eyupsultan Mosque?
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari hosted the Prophet Muhammad in Medina and later joined the Arab campaigns against Constantinople, dying outside the walls in the seventh century. His grave was located after the 1453 conquest, and Fatih Sultan Mehmed built the tomb and the mosque together on the site.
The date is given as 1459 by the district governor’s office and 1458 in most English language sources, so the safe formulation is the late 1450s, within five years of the conquest.
What followed made the site politically as well as religiously central. Ottoman sultans were girded with the sword of Osman here on accession, arriving by boat at the Eyupsultan pier and riding up to the mosque along a route still called the Culus Yolu. The mounting stone they used survives behind the mosque on the water side.
The building was damaged in the 1766 earthquake and rebuilt under Selim III between 1798 and 1800 in Ottoman baroque style, which is why the interior looks later than its foundation date suggests.
What are the visiting hours for Eyupsultan Mosque and the tomb?
The mosque is a working one, open for the five daily prayers with no ticket and no separate tourist hours. Visitors are admitted between prayers.
The tomb has published hours set by the Ministry of Culture.
| Period | Tomb hours |
|---|---|
| 2 March to 30 October | 06:00 to 23:00 |
| 31 October to 1 March | 07:00 to 20:00 |
| Holy nights | Open 24 hours |
| Religious holidays | Open all day |
Friday is the day to plan around. At Friday noon prayer the mosque and the surrounding square fill to the point where there is little space even outside, and the same applies during Ramadan and the two religious holidays. If you want to see the interior properly, come on a weekday morning shortly after the tomb opens, or in the late afternoon.
What is the dress code at Eyupsultan Mosque?
Stricter in practice than at the Sultanahmet mosques, because the congregation here is local and devout rather than largely made up of visitors.
Women cover hair, shoulders and knees. Scarves are usually available at the entrance. Men avoid shorts and keep shoulders covered. Shoes come off at the door and hats come off inside. There is a security check at the entrance.
Photography inside the tomb is prohibited. Inside the mosque, flash and tripods are not permitted, and photographing people at prayer is poor form anywhere but particularly here. Funerals are frequent given the cemetery’s status, and if one is in progress, put the camera away.
Modest dress applies in the streets of the district as well as inside the mosque. This is a conservative neighbourhood.
How do you get to Pierre Loti Hill?
Two ways, and they suit different visits.
The cable car, the TF2 line, runs from the Golden Horn shore up to the hilltop. It covers 420 metres in three and a quarter minutes with four cabins of eight passengers, departing roughly every five minutes at peak. Summer hours are 08:00 to 23:00 and winter hours 08:00 to 22:00. It uses the standard Istanbulkart transit fare, which was 46.20 TL for an anonymous card as of July 2026, and cabin seats fold for wheelchair access. The lower station connects to the T5 tram and to the ferry pier.
The walk up through the cemetery, around 1.7 kilometres and roughly 20 minutes at a steady pace, climbing through the historic Eyupsultan graveyard. This is the better option if you have the time and the legs. The cemetery holds the graves of Necip Fazil Kisakurek, Ahmet Hasim, Mareshal Fevzi Cakmak and Sokullu Mehmet Pasa among others, and the path opens onto views over the Golden Horn as it climbs.
The mosque to the cable car lower station is only about 290 metres, so the two sit together naturally in one visit.
At the top is the Pierre Loti tea garden, named after the French naval officer and novelist Louis Marie Julien Viaud, who first came to Istanbul in 1876 and lived in Eyupsultan. The hill itself is known locally as Idris-i Bitlisi Tepesi and appears in Evliya Celebi’s seventeenth century travelogue as a place of recreation, which it has remained. The upper station has a viewing telescope on its top floor.
Sunset is the hour to be up here. The Golden Horn runs west from the hill, so the sun sets down the length of the water with the old city silhouetted on the left.
What else is in the Eyupsultan district?
The tomb complex. The district holds twenty seven listed medreses, mosques, lodges and tombs, several of them Mimar Sinan works. The Hacı Besir Aga tomb adjoins Abu Ayyub’s, and the Mihrisah Valide Sultan imaret and tomb from 1792, the Zal Mahmut Pasa complex from 1577 and the tomb of Sultan Mehmed Resad from 1913 are all within walking distance.
The toy sellers. Eyup has made toys since the seventeenth century, driven by families arriving for circumcision ceremonies with children in tow. Evliya Celebi counted 105 toy makers in 100 shops here in 1635. They were made from offcuts from the Golden Horn workshops, in clay, wood and leather, and sold along a lane still called Oyuncakci Cikmazi off Iskele Caddesi. Wooden toys are still sold in the historic bazaar, and production has been revived through a workshop in the Zal Mahmut complex.
The bazaar. The streets between the pier and the mosque are lined with shops selling prayer beads, prayer rugs, religious books, dates and rose water, aimed at pilgrims rather than tourists. Prices are fixed and low, and haggling is not the custom here the way it is in the Grand Bazaar.
Feshane. An 1835 fez and cloth factory on the shore, now a fair and culture centre, visible from the boat on the return leg.
Food. Eyup guveci, a clay pot stew that dates from the 1940s here, and the Eyup halkasi, a bread ring from a bakery working since 1883. The district also historically held the dairies that supplied Istanbul’s milk and clotted cream, which is why kaymak is associated with the name.
How does Eyupsultan connect to a Golden Horn boat trip?
The district sits at the head of the Golden Horn, which makes it the natural end point of any trip up the waterway.
On the Golden Horn cruise, Pierre Loti Hill and Eyupsultan Mosque are landmarks eleven and ten on the return leg down the south shore, with audio commentary in Turkish and English. The boat passes rather than docks, so the cruise gives you the setting from the water and the context of how the district relates to Balat, Fener and the shipyards downstream. The single stop on the round trip is at Miniaturk on the north shore.
If you want to walk the district itself, the scheduled Sehir Hatlari ferry on the Uskudar to Golden Horn line terminates at Eyupsultan pier, about 950 metres from the mosque, roughly eleven minutes on foot. That line calls at Karakoy, Kasimpasa, Fener, Balat, Hasköy, Ayvansaray and Sutluce on the way, which lets you combine Balat and Fener with Eyupsultan in one water route on a separate day.
Book the Golden Horn cruise here for the full 2.5 hour round trip past twenty landmarks, with instant e-ticket and free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Frequently asked questions
Can non Muslims enter Eyupsultan Mosque?
Yes, outside prayer times and dressed appropriately. Access is restricted during the five daily prayers and for a longer period around Friday noon prayer. There is no entry fee.
How do you get to Eyupsultan Mosque from Sultanahmet?
The simplest route is the T5 tram along the Golden Horn from Eminonu, which runs to Eyupsultan. Alternatively take the Sehir Hatlari ferry from Eminonu up the Golden Horn to Eyupsultan pier, which is slower and considerably more scenic. By road the trip is short in distance and slow in traffic.
Is the cable car to Pierre Loti Hill worth taking?
It saves a 20 minute uphill walk for the price of a standard transit fare, and the ride itself passes over the cemetery with the Golden Horn opening up behind. If you have mobility limits or it is hot, take it up and consider walking down.
How long do you need in Eyupsultan?
Two to three hours covers the mosque, the tomb, the bazaar streets and Pierre Loti Hill with a tea at the top. Add another hour if you walk up through the cemetery rather than taking the cable car.
What is the best time to visit Eyupsultan Mosque?
Early morning shortly after the tomb opens, or late afternoon. Weekdays over weekends. Avoid Friday around noon prayer, religious holidays and Ramadan evenings unless the crowds are what you have come for.
Is Eyupsultan the same as Eyup?
Yes. The district was renamed Eyupsultan and both names remain in use, on signage, in addresses and on transport maps. The mosque, the tomb, the pier and the tram stop all carry the longer form.
Does the Golden Horn cruise stop at Eyupsultan?
No. The cruise passes Eyupsultan Mosque and Pierre Loti Hill with audio commentary on the return leg, and its one stop is a 90 minute landing at Miniaturk on the north shore. To walk the district, take the scheduled ferry to Eyupsultan pier or the T5 tram on a separate visit.
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