Eyüp and Pierre Loti Hill: mosque, cable car and view

Eyüp, at the far end of the Golden Horn, is one of the holiest places of Islam in Turkey: the Eyüp Sultan Mosque surrounds the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who died beneath the walls of Constantinople during an Arab siege in the 7th century. Above it, Pierre Loti Hill has a café and terraces looking over the whole Golden Horn; a cable car links it to the waterfront in a few minutes. Allow half a day: the mosque and the tomb, the climb through the cemetery or by cable car, then tea on the hill. The mosque and the tomb are free to visit; the cable car is paid with the Istanbulkart.

Highlights

The Eyüp Sultan Mosque and its cemetery

Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror built a first mosque in 1458, five years after the conquest of Constantinople, next to the tomb he had commissioned. Damaged by the earthquake of 1766, it was rebuilt from 1798 and inaugurated on 24 October 1800 by Selim III, with a large dome carried on six columns. Around it, the carved Ottoman headstones of the cemetery are among the finest in the city. It is a very busy mosque: visit outside prayer times, take your shoes off, women cover their hair, and everyone covers shoulders and knees.

The tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (Eyüp Sultan Türbesi)

In the inner courtyard, the domed octagonal mausoleum holds the tomb of the Prophet's companion. Its walls are covered in tiles: during the restoration carried out from 2011 to 2015, all 7,678 tiles were numbered, removed and put back, before it reopened on 19 June 2015. Pilgrims queue in silence: keep your voice down and do not photograph worshippers at prayer.

Pierre Loti Hill and café

The hill is named after the French writer and naval officer Pierre Loti (Julien Viaud, 1850-1923), who came to Istanbul in 1876 and was a regular at the café on its summit, from where he gazed over the Golden Horn. In 1964 the ethnologist Sabiha Tansuğ rented and restored the café, then in ruins; today it is a complex of terraces, cafés, restaurants and a hotel, with a view that reaches the mosques of the historic peninsula.

The Eyüp-Piyer Loti cable car (TF2)

Run by Metro İstanbul since 2005, this 420-metre line takes just over 3 minutes to link Eyüp station, on the Golden Horn, with Piyer Loti station, next to the café. Four 8-seat cabins provide a departure every 5 minutes at peak times; the lower station has escalators and lifts. A ride costs one Istanbulkart fare: 46.20 TL full fare, or 65 TL with the single-ride electronic card sold at the machines.

The walk up through the cemetery

A paved path starts behind the mosque and climbs through the Gümüşsuyu cemetery to the café, between Ottoman tombs and cypress trees. Along the way are the graves of figures such as Marshal Fevzi Çakmak and the poet Necip Fazıl Kısakürek. The slope is steep: many people go up by cable car and walk down.

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