Eyüp Sultan Mosque and Tomb, which is located right outside of the place where the Land walls and Golden Horn walls unite, at the north of the Golden Horn, is accepted as one of the most sacred places of the Islamic world. The mosque’s construction was ordered by Mehmed the Conqueror in 1458, and was dedicated to Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (Eyüp-el Ensari), who acted as standard bearer of Muhammad. Eyüp-el Ensari, which was among the first people converting to Islam, died a martyr during the İstanbul siege on the 7th century. The burial place of Eyüp-el Ensari was found by Mehmed the Conqueror during the İstanbul stage. The historical mosque which was constructed at the burial place of Eyüp-El Ensari, is also the first mosque of the city.

After Mehmed the Conqueror, for centuries, Ottoman Sultans girded themselves with a sword at the Eyüp Sultan Mosque. The first sword girded at the Eyüp Sultan Mosque was Mehmed the Conqueror’s, and the ceremony was conducted by his teacher Akşemseddin. The mosque, which has a salient mihrab, falls within the category of mosques with eight grades, from the aspect of its plan. Eyüp Sultan Tomb is located in the middle of the mosque, a fount at the foot of the cist and a plane tree of hundreds of years old in the middle of the courtyard. The tomb of Eyüp-el Ensari, which is within the boundary wall of Eyüp Sultan, was also constructed in the year 1458. The tomb, which went through repairs during the eras of Ahmed I and Mahmud II, is embellished with tiles since the 16th century. While the silver rings and candlesticks in the tomb belong the recent eras, it is alleged that the well at the feet of the cist, is the fount found during the discovery of the grave.

The mosque has become an otherworldly location, with the cemeteries surrounding it. For, so many graves, tombs and walled tombs are never meshed together in such a manner at any other mosque. The graves of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Ferhad Pasha, Mehmed Pasha, Siyavuş Pasha, who all are Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire are located here, along with the graves of Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Ahmet Haşim, Ziya Osman Saba and Marshall Fevzi Çakmak. Eyüp Sultan Mosque and Tomb has been visited by Muslims since many centuries, as a sacred place of the Islamic world.