Eyüp Sultan Mosque & Tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (RA)

Abu Ayyub Khalid ibn Zayd al-Ansari hosted the Prophet ﷺ for seven months until the Prophet’s mosque and apartments were built. In his old age (nearly 80 years old), he joined the campaign toward Constantinople under Yazid ibn Mu’awiya in 52 AH (674 CE). Fallen ill, he requested to be carried as far into enemy territory as possible and buried near the Byzantine fortress walls. Following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 CE, his tomb was rediscovered by Sheikh Akshamsaddin, spiritual mentor of Sultan Mehmed II, who erected the imperial Eyüp Sultan Mosque. It was the ceremonial site where every Ottoman Sultan was girded with the Sword of Osman upon accession.