The group of islands called today the Princes' Islands, are the top a mountain chain sunken at the end of the Ice Age. There are no information about the Islands before the Byzantine period. During the Byzantine period, the Islands were used to exile Byzantine princes. The group of Islands was first besieged by the ottomans during the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Polaegos reign. The battle between the Byzantine armada and the armada of Musa celebi ended with the victory of the Ottomans. But the Islands were conquered and added to the Ottoman Empire on 17 April 1453, a month or so before the conquest of Istanbul, by Baltaoglu Suleyman Pasa.

The Islands had several name throughout history. They were once called "Red Islands" because of the color of the land. Called as "The Islands of Saints" by Hummer, the Islands became a popular summer resort area with the use of steam boats. The ferry trips to the Islands started in 1846. Buyukada, Burgaz and Heybeli had a relatively big community but they were very few Jews living on the Kinali Island.

Today, there are 3 active synagogues on the Princes' Islands:

The Ohel Yaakov Synagogue

There were few Jewish families spending their summer on Burgaz in the 1950's. The congregation would use the homes of the volunteers to perform the religious services. When this solution was insufficient, the community started to rent a hall for the religious services. In 1968, 360 Jewish families were spending their summer in Burgaz. The need of a temple became obvious. On 2 April 1968, the Chief rabbi David Asseo applied to the municipality for the permission to build a synagogue on Burgaz Island. The application was accepted and required permissions given on 15 April 1968.

The Ohel Yaakov synagogue is registered under the Neve salom foundation. To honor Yaakov Mazon because of his contribution to the construction of the synagogue, the temple was named "The Tent of Yaakov" (Ohel Yaakov).