ISTANBUL
By Esra Kaymak
Located outside of where the land city walls meet the Golden Horn, Istanbul's 'holiest' mosque and mausoleum Eyub Sultan is one of the most tourist-attracting areas of the city.
In nearly all of the tourist guidebooks, Eyub Sultan mosque and the mausoleum are described as the 'holiest' place for the Muslim world to visit inIstanbul, to where thousands of Muslims go and pray for their five-time prayer each day.
Being famous mostly for its morning prayers, Eyub Sultan mosque has the mausoleum of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who was the flagbearer in the army of God's last Prophet Mohammed and a close companion of him.
Al-Ansari was martyred during the Istanbul siege in 7th century, whose tomb was found after the conquest ofIstanbul and was reestablished along with a mosque by Mehmet II, the conqueror in 1459.
"Al-Ansari enshrines a special place amongst the companions of Prophet Mohammed. He hosted our Prophet for seven months in his own house during his hejira in Medina. He closely guarded him and was the clerkship for the divine inspirations. In the guidebooks of the tourist-guides al-Ansari is presented as the 'holiest' person in Istanbul," thirty five years' head muezzin of Eyub Sultan Mosque, Hasan Ersi, said.
The mausoleum, which is now under restoration is placed in the yard of the mosque, exists of eight octagonal corners and one dome. On Muslim holy day of week-fridays, holy nights and festivals of the Islam world, thousands of people visit the mausoleum and pray to God for the sake of al-Ansari.
- Pierre Loti Hill: Closest friend of Eyub Sultan Mosque since 1934
A French soldier and poet of 18th century Pierre Loti lived in the Eyub region of Istanbul and admired the place, where he lived for many years and fell in love with Aziyade Hanim, a women of Ottoman citizenship.
The hill next to Eyub Sultan mosque, where the transportation can be provided by the cable car was named after the Istanbul lover 'Pierre Loti' whose real name was Julien Viaud. With the help of a narrow road inside the Eyub cemetery one can access the mosque or the hill, where visitors can walk down or up or use the cable car for transportation.
Around and inside the mosque yard, a lot of pigeons and old plane trees turn out the place into a mystic timeline, where history revives along with present. Being crowded throughout the whole day in each day of the week, the place gets a 'salad bowl' with visitors from all around the world.
"I read about it in my guidebook. I see that it was a beatiful view and it was a nice neighbourhood. I would like to discover it. We liked the atmosphere," Marie Dombrine, a French tourist in the yard of the mosque said, adding she would visit the Pierre Loti Hill afterwards.
Italian Nilla Katani noted it was their second visit to the place, where she brought her friends this time, saying, "We were here two years ago. We like the place, it's very beautiful. Now, we have stayed to eat and afterwards we'll go on Pierre Loti Hill."
Visitors can reach Eyub Sultan either by land or by sea, where ferries depart from Uskudar, passing into the Golden Horn by Karakoy, Eminonu, Kasimpasa, Haskoy, Aksaray, Sutluce and reaching Eyub as final destination.
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