Mosque with Three Mihrabs

Three-Mihrab Mosque or Three-Mihrab Hoca Hayreddin Mosque, also known as Kazancılar Prayer Hall compared to the old market nearby. It is located at number 8, Yoğurtçu Nuri Street, Yavuz Sinan Neighborhood, Küçükpazar district, Istanbul. It was built in the 15th century. It is the only mosque in Istanbul with three mihrabs. The imam can lead the prayer at any time from a separate mihrab.

The founder of the mosque, i.e., the patron, is Kırımlı Hoca Hayreddin Efendi, who was one of the scholars of the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed and, according to some sources, one of Fatih's teachers [death date 880 (AD 1475-1476)]. As stated in the source titled "Hadika", it was built in H.874/AD 1469–70.

The story of having three mihrabs is as follows: Fatih Sultan Mehmet expands the prayer hall to place a minbar and has a mihrab installed while constructing the minbar. Later, Ahmed Efendi, the son of Hayrettin Efendi, has his wife's own house added to the prayer hall, resulting in the construction of another mihrab, giving the mosque three mihrabs.

Restoration / Repair

The minaret collapsed in the 1956 earthquake and was rebuilt.

The mosque is entirely built of rubble stone, but cut stone was used during repairs (in the damaged parts of the arches and windows).

Additional Information About the Mosque

The mosque's mihrab is pointed and its dome sits on a ribbed arch. Hoca Hayreddin's tomb is located at the back of the mihrab. The following is written on the tombstone:

“Hû-Ebu’l Feth Sultan Muhammed Han Hazretleri’nin ûstadlarından sâhibu’l hayrat ve’1-hasenât merhum ve mağfur Hoca Hayreddin Hazretleri’nin ruhuna el-Fatiha. Sene 880.” In modern Turkish: "Ebu'l Feth Sultan Mehmed Han Hazretleri'nin hocalarından, hayratın sahibi ve rahmetli, affolunmuş (rahmetli) Hoca Hayreddin Hazretleri'nin ruhuna el-Fatiha. Sene 880."

The inscription on the small stone next to the grave reads: "Yâ Hu, Hoca Hayrettin Efendi Hazretleri'nin gelini ve mihrab-ı sâlis sahibesi merhumenin ruhuna lillahil-Fatiha 880." In modern Turkish: "Ya hu, Hoca Hayrettin Efendi Hazretleri'nin gelini ve üç mihraplının sahibesi rahmetlinin ruhuna el-Fatiha 880."

Evliya Çelebi records it with his (teacher's) name as “Molla Hayreddin Camii” and writes: “It was built inside the inner side of Unkapanı, among the Kazancılar, in the era of Ebülfeth. It has three domes and three minarets, but the outer courtyard is narrow. It is a place of Nazargâh (the place of the evil eye) and müstecâbüddâve (where prayers are answered). When this mosque was being built, Molla Hayreddin, angry when a stork bird began to cry 'lak lak', said: – Bre hey kuş!.. var İstanbuldan dışarda feryâd eyle! (shout).. and then the word bismillâh took form and all the stork birds left Istanbul from within. Indeed, a stork will not settle in Istanbul (referring to Istanbul within the walls). This Kazancılar Mosque is the structure of the great sultan with such a breath..”.

Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi writes about the mosque in his work “Fatih Devri Mimârisi”: “In the vicinity of Unkapanı, near Ayazmakapusu, there are two harams, one domed and one roofed, and along the facades of both a ram (obedient) congregation area has merged. The mosque was built with a dome in the year 874 (1470) by Hoca Hayreddin Efendi; according to Hadika’s record, Fatih Sultan Mehmed added a second mihrab by dividing the building, and later the patron’s (his teacher’s) daughter, by joining her house with the mosque, had a third mihrab constructed, making the mosque three‑mihrab. Two of these are in the roofed part, the other is in the center of the domed part. Evliyâ Çelebi said this mosque had three domes, so the other domes must have been destroyed and roofs placed in their stead.

“The domed part largely retains its original structure. Only the lower windows have been enlarged and fitted with Trieste stone sills (structures that aesthetically frame window or door edges on the exterior façade), and the upper windows have been shaped into beyzi (egg‑shaped, oval). The walls, built of roughly carved stone, support the dome with a blind and high drum.

“From the spiked eaves below, the new brickwork has been repaired and connected to the roofed part. This latter part is entirely new; no trace remains of its former state. The minaret is on the right side; it is unclear whether the body hidden under plaster is original; the balcony is new. The patron’s (Hoca Hayreddin Efendi’s) and the patron’s daughter’s (the builder of the third mihrab) tombstones are in front of the mihrab wall. There is also a mosque converted from a church that is named after the patron himself. The Shekaayiki Nümaniye gives this mosque the title Unkapanı Mosque. The mosque is open for prayer (E. Hakkı Ayverdi, Fatih Devri Mimârisi, 1953).