The Bayezid II Mosque () is an early 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque located in Beyazıt Square in Istanbul, Turkey, near the ruins of the Forum of Theodosius of ancient Constantinople. History The Beyazid Mosque was commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, and was the second large imperial mosque complex (or selatin mosque) to be erected in Istanbul after the conquest in 1453. The earlier imperial complex, the Fatih Mosque, was later destroyed by earthquakes and completely rebuilt in a different style. As a result, the Beyazid complex is the oldest imperial complex in Istanbul that is preserved in more or less its original form, making it of considerable historical and architectural significance. The mosque was constructed between 1500 and 1505, with a külliye (religious and charitable complex) added immediately afterwards. This included a medrese (theological college), completed in 1507; a large hamam (bathhouse), completed some time before 1507; an imaret (soup kitchen); a caravanserai; and several mausolea including the türbe of Bayezid II himself. The chief architect of the mosque is not directly known. Based on Ottoman documents that mention architects during Bayezit II's reign, 20th-century scholar Rıfkı Melül Meriç identified Yakubşah ibn Islamşah as the most likely architect. One of Yakubşah's assistants, Yusuf ibn Papas, finished off the work on the medrese. That the architect was a nephew of the Greek architect of the Fatih Mosque (Atik Sinan or Christodoulos), is known from a grant of Bayezid II. This grant confirms the endowment by Mehmed II of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Mary of the Mongols, the only church in Istanbul that was never converted into a mosque, to the mother of Christodoulos (the Bayezid II Mosque's architect's grandmother) in acknowledgment of the two architects' work. Little else is known about Yakubşah ibn Islamşah other than that he also built a caravansarai in Bursa. However, the polished style of the mosque suggests experience with earlier Ottoman and western architectural techniques. In 19th-century and early 20th-century accounts of the city it is often referred to as "the Pigeon Mosque" because of the large number of birds that congregated nearby to be fed by worshippers. Damage and Restoration Work The dome was partially rebuilt after an earthquake in 1509, and Mimar Sinan conducted further repairs in 1573–74. The minarets were burned separately by fires in 1683 and 1754. They were also damaged by a lightning strike in 1743. A