The Suleyman Mosque

The construction of Suleyman’s Mosque was started on the order of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, who was the 10th Sultan of Ottoman Empire and who expanded the boundaries of the Empire far to Vienna's City Walls. Conquering Vienna was the sultan’s ultimate aim but he could not succeed. The Suleyman Mosque was designed and built by the great Ottoman architect Sinan. The construction of the Suleyman Mosque began in 1550 and the mosque itself was completed in 1557.

The mosque is designed partially according to the style of a Byzantine basilica, such as the Hagia Sophia, most probably with the purpose to create a continuity and a connection with the city's past. The mosque is preceded by a courtyard with columns of rich porphyry, marble and granite. The Suleyman Mosque is actually a complex building with the tombs of Suleiman and his wife Roxelana. In the garden behind the main mosque there are two mausoleums including the tombs of the sultan and his wife, his daughter, his mother, and his sister. At the four corners of the courtyard rise the four great minarets which are said to signify that Suleyman was the fourth sultan to rule in Istanbul and the 10 balconies indicate that he was the 10th Sultan of the Ottoman Dynasty. Apart from the main mosque with the prayer hall and courtyard, the mosque complex also includes a caravanserai, a public kitchen, a hospital, a bath-house, and a Qur'an school. The history of the Suleyman Mosque is as rich as the variety of materials it was built on. In 1660 the mosque was ravaged by a fire. Later it was restored but the restoration changed it almost completely. During World War I the courtyard of the Suleyman Mosque was used as a weapons storehouse and due to the ignition of some ammunitions the mosque suffered another fire. Nevertheless, today the Suleyman Mosque is one of the most popular sights in Istanbul.