Ayakapı is a neighborhood of Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. It is part of the district of Fatih

Fatih

Fatih is a municipality and district in Istanbul, Turkey that encompasses most of the peninsula coinciding with historic Constantinople. In 2009, the district of Eminönü, formerly a separate municipality located at the tip of the peninsula, was merged into Fatih...

, inside the walled city, and lies on the shore of the Golden Horn

Golden Horn

The Golden Horn is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of...

. During the Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 era, it was named ta Dexiokratiana or ta Dexiokratous in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

, after the houses owned here by a certain Dexiokrates. Its modern name comes from a church dedicated to Saint Theodosia

Theodosia of Constantinople

Saint Theodosia of Constantinople is an Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Saint and Martyr who lived in the seventh and eight centuries.Theodosia was a nun living at a monastery in Constantinople...

 which, according to Petrus Gillius

Petrus Gillius

Petrus Gyllius or Gillius was a French natural scientist, topographer and translator...

, stood near the gate. In Ayakapı lies one of the most important surviving Byzantine buildings of the historical peninsula, the Gül Mosque

Gül Mosque

Gül Mosque is a former Eastern Orthodox church in Istanbul, Turkey converted into a mosque by the Ottomans.- Location :The building is located in Istanbul, in the district of Fatih, in the neighborhood of Ayakapı , along Vakif Mektebi Sokak...

.