Süleymaniye Mosque facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Süleymaniye Mosque
Süleymaniye Camii

Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Location
Location	Istanbul, Turkey
Location in Istanbul Fatih
Architecture
Architect(s)	Mimar Sinan
Architectural type	Mosque
Architectural style	Ottoman architecture (Classical)
Groundbreaking	1550
Completed	1557
Specifications
Height (max)	53 m (174 ft)
Dome dia. (inner)	26 m (85 ft)
Minaret(s)	4
Minaret height	76 m (249 ft)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Part of	Historic Areas of Istanbul
Criteria	Cultural: i, ii, iii, iv
Inscription	1985 (9th Session)

The Süleymaniye Mosque (Turkish: Süleymaniye Camii) is a huge and beautiful mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. It was built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent between 1550 and 1557. The famous architect Mimar Sinan designed it.

This mosque sits on the Third Hill of Istanbul, giving it amazing views of the city and the Golden Horn. It is seen as one of Mimar Sinan's best works and a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture. It is also the biggest Ottoman-era mosque in Istanbul.

The Süleymaniye Mosque is part of a larger group of buildings called a külliye. This complex included schools (madrasas), a public kitchen, and a hospital. Behind the mosque, there is a cemetery with the tombs of Sultan Suleiman and his wife, Hurrem Sultan.

History of the Mosque
- Building the Süleymaniye Mosque
- Damage and Repairs
Mosque Design
The Süleymaniye Complex
- Tombs of the Sultans
Burials at Süleymaniye
See also

History of the Mosque

Building the Süleymaniye Mosque

Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent wanted a grand mosque to remember his son, Prince Mehmed. He chose the architect Mimar Sinan for this important job. Sinan first built the Şehzade Mosque, which impressed the Sultan greatly.

Suleiman then asked Sinan to design an even bigger mosque for himself. This new mosque would show how powerful the Ottoman Empire was. It was built on the site of an old palace that had to be taken down.

The mosque's main entrance has an inscription that says it was started in 1550 and opened in 1557. However, some parts of the complex were finished a few years later. For example, Sultan Suleiman's tomb was built after he died, between 1566 and 1568.

Workers brought marble from different places in Istanbul and other parts of the empire. They even used large stone columns from the ancient Hippodrome of Constantinople.

Mimar Sinan got ideas for the Süleymaniye Mosque from the Hagia Sophia and the Bayezid II Mosque. Sultan Suleiman wanted his mosque to be grander than any built before. He saw himself as a "second Solomon," and his building projects in Istanbul and Jerusalem showed this.

Interior of the mosque in a 19th-century photograph

Damage and Repairs

The Süleymaniye Mosque has faced some challenges over time. In 1660, a big fire damaged it, and Sultan Mehmed IV had it repaired.

Later, in 1766, an earthquake caused part of the main dome to collapse. The repairs after this earthquake changed some of Sinan's original decorations.

During World War I, the mosque's courtyard was used to store weapons. When some ammunition caught fire, the mosque was damaged again. It was fully restored in 1956. More recently, the mosque was restored between 2007 and 2010.

View of the mosque on the skyline of historic Istanbul

Mosque Design

The Courtyard

Like other big mosques in Istanbul, the Süleymaniye has a large courtyard before the main entrance. The main gate is on the northwest side and stands out from the walls. It has a beautiful carved archway.

The courtyard is very grand, measuring about 47 by 57 meters (154 by 187 feet). It has columns made of marble, granite, and porphyry stone. These columns have special "stalactite" carvings at the top.

The part of the courtyard leading to the prayer hall is taller than the other sides, making it look even more impressive. The front of the prayer hall is decorated with colorful Iznik tiles around the windows. These were some of the first tiles to use a bright tomato-red color.

Outside the courtyard, there are water taps for people to wash themselves before prayer. Because of this, the fountain in the middle of the courtyard is just for decoration. It was designed to spray water from its ceiling, which was very unusual for the time.

The main entrance to the prayer hall has a detailed carved archway. Above the entrance, there is a large inscription with beautiful calligraphy. This text talks about the Sultan and his family. The wooden doors are made of carved walnut, ebony, and olive wood, decorated with ivory and mother-of-pearl.

Other entrances to the courtyard also have inscriptions. For example, the western gate says, "Peace be unto thee! Thou art good, so enter ye to dwell therein." These inscriptions compare the mosque's gates to the gates of paradise.

The main entrance to the courtyard (northwest side of the mosque)
Courtyard of the mosque with central fountain (şadırvan), looking towards the entrance
Courtyard of the mosque, looking towards the prayer hall
One of the "stalactite" or muqarnas capitals in the courtyard
Inside the central fountain of the courtyard, where water originally sprayed down from the ceiling
The entrance portal to the prayer hall from the courtyard

Minarets

The Süleymaniye Mosque has four tall minarets, one at each corner of the courtyard. The two taller minarets have three balconies each and stand about 76 meters (249 feet) high. These balconies have beautiful carved patterns.

Having four minarets was special. In Ottoman times, only mosques built by a Sultan could have this many. The ten balconies on the minarets are said to represent that Suleiman I was the 10th Ottoman Sultan. Sinan made the outer minarets shorter, which makes the mosque look like it rises up towards the central dome.

Detail of the minarets and their sculpted balconies

The Prayer Hall

Inside the Mosque

The inside of the mosque is almost a perfect square, about 58.5 by 57.5 meters (192 by 189 feet). It feels like one huge space, dominated by its central dome. The dome is 53 meters (174 feet) high and 26.5 meters (87 feet) wide.

The design of the prayer hall is similar to the Hagia Sophia. The main dome is supported by two half-domes, one in front and one behind it. Smaller domes cover the side areas. This design allows for many windows, making the inside bright.

Mimar Sinan was very clever in his design. He hid many of the large support pillars inside the outer walls. This makes the mosque look less heavy and more open. From the outside, the domes and arches rise smoothly, like a pyramid, leading your eyes up to the main dome.

Sinan also added unique details. For example, the domes in the side aisles are different sizes, creating a nice visual rhythm. He also added four side entrances, which made good use of the corner spaces.

View of the mosque's exterior (northeast side)
Interior of the prayer hall, looking towards the mihrab
View of the semi-domes around the central dome
One of the side aisles of the mosque
One of the arcaded galleries on the mosque's exterior and the water taps for ablutions

Decorations and Art

The inside of the Süleymaniye Mosque is not overly decorated. This was done on purpose to follow Islamic traditions. Instead of lots of gold or jewels, the main decoration is beautiful Islamic calligraphy. This writing is mostly in a style called thuluth and was done by Hasan Çelebi.

Most of the original painted decorations inside the mosque have been lost due to damage and repairs. The paintings you see in the central dome today are from a 19th-century restoration. They imitate a style called Ottoman Baroque. However, traces of the original blue and red colors have been found.

The stone work in the mosque is very high quality. The columns have carved "stalactite" designs at their tops.

The mihrab is a special niche that shows the direction of Mecca (the qibla). It has a carved arch and is framed by marble. Next to the mihrab is the minbar, a pulpit where the imam gives sermons. It's made of marble with simple geometric patterns and gilded stars.

View of the mihrab (niche symbolizing the qibla) and the minbar (pulpit)

Colorful Iznik tiles are used around the mihrab. These tiles have a floral pattern in blue, turquoise, red, and black. On either side of the mihrab, there are large round Iznik tiles with calligraphy from the Al-Fatiha chapter of the Quran.

The most detailed stained-glass windows are on the qibla wall, near the mihrab. They show the names of God (Allah), the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the first four caliphs. These inscriptions emphasize the mosque's connection to orthodox Sunni Islam.

One of the stained-glass windows on the qibla wall

The Süleymaniye Complex

The Süleymaniye Mosque was built as a külliye, which means a complex of buildings. These buildings served the religious and daily needs of the community. The complex included places for prayer, education, health, and more.

Many of these buildings are still standing today. The former public kitchen is now a restaurant. The old hospital is used as a printing factory.

Madrasas: There were four madrasas (religious schools). Two of them, on a sloping part of the land, were built in a "stepped" design with courtyards going down in terraces.
Primary School: A small primary school (mekteb) was also part of the complex.
Medical School and Hospital: There was a medical school (darüttıb) and a hospital (darüşşifa).
Public Kitchen: A public kitchen (imaret) provided food for the poor.
Guesthouse: A guesthouse (tabhane) offered lodging for travelers.
Public Baths: There were also public baths (hamam).
Shops: Small shops were built around the edges of the complex, creating a market street.

Just outside the complex, to the north, is the tomb of the architect Mimar Sinan. It was restored in 1922.

Exterior of the Süleymaniye Hamam (bathhouse)
The sloped courtyard of the Salis Medrese, one of the four madrasas of the complex
Tomb of Mimar Sinan
Interior of the tabhane or caravanserai (guesthouse)
Interior of the imaret (public kitchen)
Back side of the darüşşifa (hospital), with the substructure visible below
The Evvel Medrese, as seen from the market street on its east side. The domed chamber on the left corner is part of the mekteb (primary school).

Tombs of the Sultans

Behind the mosque, there is a cemetery with the separate tombs (türbe) of Sultan Suleiman I and his wife Hürrem Sultan.

Suleiman the Magnificent's tomb is a large octagonal building. It was finished around 1567, the year after he died. Its design has been compared to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The tomb is surrounded by a covered walkway with 24 columns. Inside, the walls are covered with colorful Iznik tiles. Besides Suleiman, his daughter Mihrimah Sultan and two later sultans are also buried here.

Hürrem Sultan's tomb is also octagonal and was built in 1558. Its inside is decorated with Iznik tiles.