Ferruh Kethüda Mosque

Ferruh Kethüda Mosque or Balat Mosque; a mosque by Mimar Sinan located in the Balat neighborhood of the Fatih district of Istanbul province.

It is located on Mahkemealtı Street in the Ayvansaray quarter. In the Ottoman period it was also used as a tevhid house of a tekke belonging to the Sünbüliye branch of the Halveti order. After 1925 it remained out of service for a long time; it was repaired in 1960 and reopened for worship. The mosque, a modest building with a flat tiled roof and an interior dome, has a sundial on the qibla wall. Its mihrab is covered with valuable Chinese porcelain.

Balat Tekke

The mosque is part of a small complex of buildings that served as a tekke of the Sünbüliye branch of the Halveti order, and it was built in 1562-1563. In the 16th century Ottoman Empire many members of the ruling class had tekkes built for the Halvetis in the gardens of their palaces and mansions, providing them with extensive material resources. This tekke complex in the Balat district was commissioned by Ferruh Ağa, the kethüda (steward) of Grand Vizier Semiz Ali Pasha of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and built by Mimar Sinan. Its endowment deed states that the tekke was built opposite Ferruh Ağa's palace. Its tomb is located in the cemetery in front of the mosque.

Ferruh Kethüda stipulated in his endowment that Sinanüddin Yusuf be appointed to his tekke. After serving here, the first three sheikhs of the tekke moved to the Koca Mustafa Pasha Tekke, the headquarters of the Sünbülî branch of the Halveti order. Therefore this tekke constituted the final step in the hierarchy of Halveti tekkes before moving to the Koca Mustafa Pasha Tekke. Because the mosque was also used as the tekke’s tevhid house, it was known as Balat Tekke.

Sharia Court and Other Buildings

The small complex that includes the wooden-roofed Ferruh Kethüda Mosque consisted of auxiliary buildings, a court building, and a fountain. The Balat Sharia Court, one of the Ottoman sharia courts, operated in the building in the mosque’s courtyard. The street on which the mosque stands takes its name "Mahkemealtı" from this. The other structures of the complex have been demolished; only the mosque and the fountain have survived to the present day.

Mosque

The mosque, built of cut stone, has a rectangular plan; it is a modest building with a flat tile roof, an interior dome, and a plain roof. The plan scheme with a zawiya (reverse T-shaped) layout, seen in early Ottoman structures, has been applied.

It has five low-arched doors opening in different directions. Mimar Sinan, who applied the mihrab protrusion in some of his centrally domed mosques supported by six or eight columns, also applied it in this wooden-roofed building. Inside the roof there is a dome that is not visible from the outside.

A sundial is located on the qibla wall of the building. According to Evliya Çelebi, on the surface of the north wall facing the last congregation area there were landscape pictures showing various stations and passages on the pilgrimage route, but these pictures do not exist today.

The mihrab is covered with tiles thought to have been produced in the first quarter of the 18th century at Tekfur Palace. The mosque’s minaret is at the northwest corner of the courtyard. The minaret was probably renewed after the earthquake of 23 May 1766, starting from the foundation. It is believed that the wooden last congregation area in the mosque disappeared in the 1877 Balat fire together with the tekke administration and the courthouse building.

Disuse, reopening and restorations

Ferruh Kethüda Mosque, after the closure of the tekkes, fell out of service and into a ruined state for a long period after 1925. The other Tekfur tiles on its walls were stolen and damaged in the 1940s.

The mosque began to be restored in 1953 through the initiatives of an association founded by the local residents. The restoration was completed in 1960 with the support of the Foundations Administration and the mosque was reopened for worship. The mosque underwent major restorations in 1986 and between 2016 and 2021.