I quote from a book by Cem Behar: “Local legend tells us that Kasap Iliyas was the chiuef buthcher/meat provider to the Ottoman army that conquered Constantinople in 1453 and that in recognition of his services the sultan bestowed on him a large plot of land. On this plot of land he first built a small mosque bearing his name and endowed it. Around this local mosque, goes the legend, a whole neighbourhood nearing his name took shape. […] Kasap Ilyas has grown into a sort of mythical figure and he has been surrounded by an aura of sanctity by the locals for quite a long time. His deed of trust (vakfiye) was set down in 1494 and his small shrine standsing in the small graveyard beside his mosque bears the date of 1495 as the date of his passing away. The present-day Kasap Ilyas mosque was almost totally rebuilt after the 1894 earthquake. Of the original structure nothing much remains.