Analysis Of The Mosque Of Süleyman The Magnificent

The Mosque of Süleyman the Magnificent is located in Istanbul, Turkey. The area previously known as Constantinople, ancient Byzantium, is a large seaport city of Turkey that connects Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. It was the capital of both the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. By the mid 1500's, this area was the nucleus for Ottoman military operations, was a major cultural, political, and commercial center populated by a half a million people. Commissioned in 1550 by Sultan Süleyman I, the Süleymaniye Mosque was “the fourth imperial mosque built in Istanbul, it is the second largest mosque in the city, and one of the most impressive.” Suleiman became a prominent monarch of 16th-century Europe, presiding over the apex
(Religions - Islam: Ottoman Empire (1301-1922), 2014) At the age of 26, he became the 10th sultan of the Empire in 1520 and is known as "Kanuni", the Lawgiver, in his homeland, but for Europeans he has always been "Suleyman the Magnificent". (Sansal, n.d.) He ruled until his death in 1566. Besides the mosques, he also commissioned dams, aqueducts and fountains, theological schools (medrese), caravanserai, Turkish baths, botanical gardens and bridges many which survived to modern times. (Sansal, n.d.) (Istanbul, 2012) Mimar Sinan was the architect who designed the complex. Sinan would be credited for designing over 476 structures in the Ottoman Empire, though the Süleymaniye Mosque remains one of his most notable. (Sinan(ii) [Koca Sinan; Sinan, 2003) “Sinan served as a military engineer until he was appointed as “chief royal architect,” a title which he held for fifty
Imperial mosques in Istanbul were usually designed as part of a complex; the Süleymaniye Mosque is more than just a place of worship. The development of charitable foundations is an important facet of Islamic culture, the third pillar of Islam bequests Muslims to donate to the poor. “Külliye, derived from the Arabic word "kûl" (meaning the whole) is a term for a complex of buildings, centered around a mosque and managed within a single institution.” (Goodwin, 2003) Besides the praying hall (camii) and courtyard (avlu), the complex featured a Koran school (mekteb), a school for the traditions of the Prophet (darülhadis), a hadith school where students studied Muhammad’s teachings (medrese), a hostel (tabhane) that provided rest for travelers, a hospital (bimarhane), a kitchen (imaret) that fed food to the poor, Muslims, Christians and Jews alike and a bath (hammam). The mosque provides a place for prayer, study, respite, and thinking. The public bath (hammam) plays an important part in the Islamic practices where purification is done before praying. (Külliye, 2003) Behind the mosque are a graveyard and two mausoleums, entombed within are the Süleyman, his wife, his daughter, his mother, and his sister, as well as Süleyman II, Ahmed II, Safiye, and, appropriately, Mimar Sinan. The purpose of the buildings in this complex are