Süleymaniye Mosque
Süleymaniye Mosque was built on one of the highest hills of Istanbul between 1551-1557. It is one of the most important works of Mimar Sinan. It is a work whose simplicity is transformed into magnificence like other works of Mimar Sinan. It was described by Mimar Sinan as “my journeyman”. The Suleymaniye Complex, consisting of the Süleymaniye Mosque, madrasahs, library, hospital, medical school, Turkish bath, imaret, treasury and shops, was built as a complex.
The architectural geometry of the Süleymaniye mosque itself is an aesthetic wonder. The mosque has a large dome, 26.5 meters in diameter, seated on four large columns. The depth of the dome is twice its diameter. In order to make this dome light, special bricks were produced and used in its construction. The stones forming the walls of the mosque are connected to each other with iron clamps. Melted lead was poured into these clamps and reinforced. The mosque is illuminated with 128 windows and dozens of oil lamps surrounding the dome. A soot room was built on the entrance so that the heat from these lamps does not pollute the walls and can be utilized in the production of ink. In other words, it was built in the mosque to create an air flow that allows the work of oil lamps to be collected at a single point. The mosque has four minarets rising in four corners of its inner courtyard built of white marble. The two are three cheers, the two are two cheers. The four minarets in the mosque symbolize that Kanuni was the fourth sultan after the conquest of Istanbul. The ten cheers in the minarets represent the tenth sultan of Ottoman history. There is also a fountain in the middle of the inner courtyard, consisting of a rectangular pool and two sprinklers in the pool.
