The
cascading domes and four slender
minarets of the Imperial Suleymaniye
Mosque dominate the skyline on the
Golden Horn's west bank. Considered
the most beautiful of all imperial
mosques in Istanbul, it was built
between 1550 and 1557 by Sinan, the
renowned architect of the Ottoman
Empire's golden age.
Erected
on the crest of a hill, the building
is conspicuous for its great size,
emphasized by the four minarets that
rise from each comer of the
courtyard. Inside are the mihrab
(prayer niche showing the direction
to Mecca) and the mimber
I (pulpit)
made of finely carved white marble
and exquisite stained-glass windows
coloring the incoming streams of
light. It was in the gardens of this
complex that Suleyman and his wife,
Hurrem Sultan (Roxelane), had their
mausolea built, and near here also
Sinan built his own tomb. The mosque
complex also includes four medreses,
or theological schools, a school of
medicine, a caravanserai, a Turkish
bath, and a kitchen and hospice for
the poor.
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