Suleymaniye Mosque

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History of Suleymaniye Mosque

The Suleiman Mosque was developed on the order of sultan Suleiman the terrific and built by using the first-rate Ottoman architect Sinan. The development work started out in 1550 and the mosque was finished in 1557.

The mosque is modeled in part on the form of a Byzantine basilica, above all the Hagia Sophia, which used to be perhaps a aware transfer on the a part of the sultan to create a continuity and a symbolic connection with town's previous.

The Suleiman Mosque was ravaged by means of a fireplace in 1660 and used to be restored on the command of sultan Mehmed IV via architect Fossatı. The restoration, however, modified the mosque right into a more baroque sort, detrimental the fine work severely.


The mosque used to be restored to its original glory throughout the 19th century however during World war I the courtyard was once used as a weapons depot and when one of the vital ammunition ignited, the mosque suffered a further fire. No longer unless 1956 was once it restored again. In these days, the Suleiman Mosque is among the most fashionable sights in Istanbul.

What to see at Suleymaniye Mosque

The mosque is fifty nine meters in size and fifty eight meters in width. The predominant dome is fifty three meters high and has a diameter of 27.25 meters.

Aside from the important mosque with the prayer corridor (cami) and courtyard (avlu), the mosque elaborate also involves a caravanserai or seraglio (sarayı; han), a public kitchen (imaret) which served meals to the negative, a sanatorium (darüşşifa), a Qur'an institution (medrese) and a bath-condominium (hamam).

In the garden behind the primary mosque there are two mausoleums (türbe) including the tombs of sultan Suleiman I, his spouse Roxelana (Haseki Hürrem), his daughter Mihrimah, his mother Dilaşub Saliha and his sister Asiye. Suleiman's tomb facets a process of layered domes copied from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

The sultans Suleiman II, Ahmed II and Safiye (died in 1777), the daughter of Mustafa II, are additionally buried right here. Just outside the mosque walls to the north is the standard tomb of Sinan, designed by way of the occupant himself.