Uzbeks Monastery

In the Ottoman period, Muslim pilgrims would first come to Istanbul, attend the Friday Divine Service Parade of the Sultan, who was the Caliph, in the Eyüp Sultan Mosque, and receive symbolic approval from him to go on the pilgrimage. During these visits, Uzbeks from Central Asia set up their own ornamented tents on the Anatolian Side. The sultan of the period saw the tents while passing through here one day, talked with the sheikh, liked it and said that he would settle here, give them a place and build a lodge on his return to Mecca. Rumour has it that it is the story of the establishment of the Uzbeks Monastery, near Bulbul Creek, in Uskudar. In the following years, other similar structures were built. The Uzbeks Monastery opposite the Sokullu Mehmetpaşa Mosque in Fatih, built in 1692, is one of them.

Until the closure of the Islamic Monasteries by law in 1925, the building on a slope that welcomed visitors from Uzbekistan was destroyed in the 1980s. It was revived with extensive reconstruction works in the 2000s. Its walls have been repaired and painted; The destruction on the facade and interior has been repaired from A to Z. Balcony and window beams were rebuilt.

The Uzbeks Monastery which get over the traces of all the fatigue from centuries ago, has a different building feature that adds value to the silhouette of Sultanahmet and its immediate surroundings. The Uzbeks Monastery, which stands out with its minaret on the entrance door and which walls are decorated with various paintings, now functions as a design center within a foundation. In addition to the trainings offered to registered students, various exhibitions, workshops, seminars and workshops are organized.