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Yeni Camii
Only in İstanbul would a 400-year-old mosque be called 'New'. The Yeni Camii was begun in 1597, commissioned by Valide Sultan Safiye, mother of Sultan Mehmet III (r 1595-1603). The site was earlier occupied by a community of Karaite Jews, radical dissenters from Orthodox Judaism. When the valide sultan decided to build her grand mosque here, the Karaites were moved to Hasköy, a district further up the Golden Horn.
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Yeni Valide Camii
Unusual because of the striking 'birdcage' tomb in its overgrown garden, the Yeni Valide Camii was built by Sultan Ahmet III between 1708 and 1710 for his mother, Gülnuş Emetullah. After being captured as a child on Crete and brought to Topkapı, Gülnuş became the favourite concubine of Mehmet IV, and bore him two sons who would become sultan: Mustafa II and his younger brother, Ahmet.
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Zeyrek Camii
Zeyrek Camii was originally part of an important Byzantine sanctuary comprising two churches, a chapel and a monastery. The monastery is long gone and the northernmost church is derelict, but the southern church still has some features intact, including a magnificent marble floor. Empress Eirene had the church built before her death in AD 1124 (she features in a mosaic at Aya Sofya with Emperor John II Comnenus).
