Süleymaniye Mosque

About Süleymaniye Mosque

Mosque in İstanbul, Turkey

The Süleymaniye Mosque is the largest Ottoman-era mosque in Istanbul and one of Mimar Sinan's greatest works, standing on the Third Hill of the city with a commanding view over the Golden Horn. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566); an inscription gives the foundation date as 1550 and the inauguration as 1557, although work on the complex probably continued for a few years afterwards. It is one of the four components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Areas of Istanbul". The mosque is the centrepiece of a vast külliye that included four madrasas, a medical school, a hospital, a public kitchen, a caravanserai, a bathhouse, shops and a Qur'an school, all served by its own water-supply system. Built of dressed stone laid without mortar, the mosque is entered through a monumental marble portal with muqarnas in the Anatolian tradition; the courtyard is surrounded by a domed arcade on reused Byzantine porphyry columns with a marble fountain at its centre. The prayer hall is crowned by a main dome about 26 metres across and 53 metres high, and the interior is admired for its restraint, light, stained glass and calligraphy. Behind the qibla wall an enclosed cemetery holds the separate octagonal mausoleums of Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), while Mimar Sinan's own modest tomb stands at a corner of the complex; the terrace alongside offers a sweeping view of the Golden Horn and Galata.

Where:

Istanbul, Türkiye