islamizing istanbul 85
three months prior to this fi re a confl agration had broken out in the heart of the
district of Galata, much of the city lay in ruins in the summer of 1 660.
Hatice Turhan’s Converting of Jewish Space in the Wake of Fire
The fi re served as an opportunity for Valide Sultan Hatice Turhan to conceive
of the urban landscape in a new way and to promote Islamization, the conver-
sion of Jewish space into Muslim space. Evliya Çelebi notes that Hatice Turhan
traveled around Istanbul in the days after much of it burned, while it was still
nothing but an ash heap, to survey the damage.^21 Referring to Köprülü Meh-
med Pasha, who had restored a burned mosque, she also desired “to obtain
a magnifi cent reward from God for a pious act.” She said, “If there were a
mosque in need, I should also repair it.” The grand vizier, “knowing the valide
sultan’s lofty zeal,” encouraged the valide sultan to repair” the unfi nished impe-
rial mosque complex in Eminönü.^22 Kurdish Preacher Mustafa concludes that
the valide sultan “was pleased with the suggestion and that day sent 40,000
gold coins to her steward ordering him to immediately commence work on that
noble mosque.”^23
For the valide sultan, not only did constructing her own imperial mosquecomplex in Eminönü demonstrate the piety and legitimacy of the dynasty
she represented, but linking the fi re to Jews further legitimized the mosque’s
construction. While rebuilding the city, unprecedented policies were enacted
concerning Jewish houses of worship. Contrary to previous periods in which
synagogues were usually allowed to be built or rebuilt, in this period Islamic
laws prohibiting reconstruction were strictly applied. Jews had to abandon
properties, could not restore their homes or synagogues, and were even ex-
pelled from the district where most had resided prior to the fi re. In the end, the
visual presence of a prominent mosque in Eminönü symbolized the Islamiza-
tion of the heart of Istanbul.^24
Hatice Turhan engaged in frequent royal trips that displayed the dynasty’smagnifi cence, munifi cence, and piety. Although thrilling to the populace when
they occurred, Hatice Turhan’s showy marches and gifts to the poor left no per-
manent mark on the skin of an Ottoman city. Because of her sex and age, she
could engage in impressive public outings but had no means of articulating a
martial message like her son. Instead, she did the next best thing by demon-
strating her concern for safeguarding the domains of Islam. Writers celebrated
Hatice Turhan for being cognizant of the military situation and building or
repairing fortresses guarding the Bosporus, the Black Sea, and especially the
Dardanelles (Kilidbahir/Seddülbahir [Lock of the Sea/Dam of the Sea] on the