Süleymaniye Mosque
The Süleymaniye Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Third Hill of Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. An inscription specifies the foundation date as 1550 and the inauguration date as 1557. The mosque was built by the Ottoman sultan Suleyman and the mosque was named after him. The mosque is located at the highest end of the city of Istanbul. It is designed to glorify the sultan. Construction of this mosque began before 1550 and was nearly completed in 1557. Sultan Suleyman used Mimar Sinan, the greatest engineer and architect of his time for the work of this mosque. The architecture and craftsmanship of the mosque are very beautiful and attract many worshipers and visitors.
History
The Süleymaniye Mosque, was built on the order of Sultan Süleyman, and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. The Arabic foundation inscription above the north portal of the mosque is carved in thuluth script on three marble panels. It gives a foundation date of 1550 and an inauguration date of 1557. In reality the planning of the mosque began before 1550 and parts of the complex were not completed until after 1557.The design of the Süleymaniye also plays on Suleyman's self-conscious representation of himself as a 'second Solomon.' It references the Dome of the Rock, which was built on the site of the Temple of Solomon, as well as Justinian's boast upon the completion of the Hagia Sophia: "Solomon, I have surpassed thee!" The Süleymaniye, similar in magnificence to the preceding structures, asserts Suleyman's historical importance. The structure is nevertheless smaller in size than its older archetype, the Hagia Sophia.
The Süleymaniye was damaged in the great fire of 1660 and was restored by Sultan Mehmed IV. Part of the dome collapsed during the earthquake of 1766. Subsequent repairs damaged what was left of the original decoration of Sinan.
During World War I the courtyard was used as a weapons depot, and when some of the ammunition ignited, the mosque suffered another fire. Not until 1956 was it fully restored again.
The construction of the Haliç Metro Bridge in 2013 has irreparably altered the view of the mosque from north.
Architecture
Exterior
Like the other imperial mosques in Istanbul, the entrance to the mosque itself is preceded by a forecourt with a central fountain. The courtyard is of exceptional grandeur with a colonnaded peristyle with columns of marble, granite and porphyry. The northwest facade of the mosque is decorated with rectangular Iznik tile window lunettes. The mosque is the first building where the Iznik tiles include the brightly coloured tomato red clay under the glaze.At the four corners of the courtyard are the four minarets. The two taller minarets have three galleries and rise to a high of without their lead caps and including the caps. Four minarets were used for mosques endowed by a sultan. The minarets have a total of 10 galleries, which by tradition indicates that Suleiman I was the 10th Ottoman sultan.
The main dome is high and has a diameter of which is exactly half the height. At the time it was built, the dome was the highest in the Ottoman Empire, when measured from sea level, but still lower from its base and smaller in diameter than that of Hagia Sophia.Looking from a distance, the mosque has four minarets. Sultan Suleyman was the fourth Sultan of the Ottoman empire to indicate the number of four minarets. The largest of the four minarets is 76 meters high and two of the smaller minarets are 56 meters high. There are several reasons behind the Suleymaniye mosque’s four minarets. At that time, if the common people had built a mosque, they could use only one minaret. If a prince built a mosque, he could use two minarets. Only the Sultan could use four minarets. The mosque has ten hanging porches at the base of the minarets. These ten porches indicate that Sultan Suleyman was the tenth caliph of this empire. Near the mosque there is a large open space. During the summer, families come here and spend time. On the west side of the mosque is the shrine of Sultan Suleyman and his wife Hurram Sultan. There is a large courtyard in the middle of the four minarets of the mosque.In the middle of this courtyard there is a fountain that provides three types of water: hot water, cold water and cold sweet water for drinking
Interior
The interior of the mosque is almost a square, in length and in width, forming a single vast space. The dome is flanked by semi-domes, and to the north and south arches with tympana-filled windows, supported by enormous porphyry monoliths. Sinan decided to make a radical architectural innovation to mask the huge north-south buttresses needed to support these central piers. He incorporated the buttresses into the walls of the building, with half projecting inside and half projecting outside, and then hid the projections by building colonnaded galleries. There is a single gallery inside the structure, and a two-story gallery outside.The interior decoration is restrained with stained-glass windows restricted to the qibla wall. Iznik tile revetments are only used around the mihrab. The repeating rectangular tiles have a stencil-like floral pattern on a white ground. The flowers are mainly blue with turquoise, red and black but green is not used. On either side of the mihrab are large Iznik tile calligraphic roundels with text from the Al-Fatiha surah of the Quran. The white marble mihrab and mimbar are also simple in design, and woodwork is restrained, with simple designs in ivory and mother of pearl.the interior structure of the Suleymaniye mosque is very attractive. Especially the interior of the mosque is very well decorated and the inside view of the mosque is very glamorous. The insides domes are so beautifully designed that they attract tourists and worshipers alike. The mosque is a single space equipped with multiple domes,, that is, any side of the floor of the mosque is made up of multiple domes. Any sound inside the mosque is echoed and the reflection of the words in the form of waves is very sweet. The shape of the dome of the mosque was originally taken from Hajia Sofia. Hajia Sofia’s design was so beautiful that it influenced many countries in Turkey and the Middle East. Hajia Sofia has been used to build many other mosques in Turkey. “The dome of Hajia Sophia influenced the majority of Ottoman mosques. For example: Sultan Ahmed or the Blue Mosque, Suleymaniye mosque and Shahzadah mosque in Istanbul, and Muhammad Ali mosque in Egypt”. This means that most of the influence of Hajia Sofia can be seen in Turkey, especially in mosques. Moreover the institutions made in these patterns are seen as especially advanced and modern. The Suleymaniye mosque in particular is very beautiful and modern in its composition. The inside length of the mosque is basically 194 feet and width is 190 feet. The Islamic design of
The circular or semi-circular dome inside the mosque gives the mosque another beauty. A hole has been created at the top of the dome through which the light enters from the direction of the sun. There is a huge chandelier hanging inside the mosque. Along with the design, the names of Allah and the Prophet have been added to the dome and pillars of the mosque. The interior of the mosque is surrounded by carpets brought from Cairo in Egypt and the city of Usak in Turkey. The design of the carpet points to the Kaba. Inside the mosque, a special place for womens’ prayers has been created on the right. The place of prayer for women was surrounded by beautiful surroundings. At this place, the wife of sultan Suleyman and the ladies of the royal family used to pray. There is a two storied house in front of the Imam’s Membor inside the mosque. The Sultan and his closest employees sat on the top floor and Sultan’s guards sat on the bottom floor. The Mihrab inside the mosque is carved with the Surah Al-Fātiḥah. The Mihrab and members of the mosque are built in a very attractive way.
Mausoleums
In the walled enclosure behind the qibla wall of the mosque are the separate mausoleums of Sultan Suleiman I and his wife Hurrem Sultan. Hurrem Sultan's octagonal mausoleum is dated 1558, the year of her death. The 16 sided interior is decorated with Iznik tiles. The seven rectangular windows are surmounted by tiled lunettes and epigraphic panels. Between the windows are eight mihrab-like hooded niches. The ceiling is now whitewashed but was probably once painted in bright colours.The much larger octagonal mausoleum of Suleiman the Magnificent bears the date of 1566, the year of his death, but it was probably not completed until the following year. The mausoleum is surrounded by a peristyle with a roof supported by 24 columns and has the entrance facing east rather than the usual north. Under the portico on either side of the entrance are Iznik tiled panels. These are the earliest tiles that are decorated with the bright emerald green colour that would become a common feature of Iznik ceramics. The interior has a false dome supported on eight columns within the outer shell. There are 14 windows set at ground level and an additional 24 windows with stained glass set in the tympana under the arches. The walls and the pendentives are covered with polychrome Iznik tiles. Around the room above the windows is a band of inscriptive tiled panels. The text quotes the Throne verse and the following two verses from the Quran. In addition to the tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent, the mausoleum houses the tombs of his daughter Mihrimah Sultan and those of two later sultans: Suleiman II and Ahmed II.
Complex
As with other imperial mosques in Istanbul, the Süleymaniye Mosque was designed as a külliye, or complex with adjacent structures to service both religious and cultural needs. The original complex consisted of the mosque itself, a hospital, primary school, public baths, a Caravanserai, four Qur'an schools, a specialized school for the learning of hadith, a medical college, and a public kitchen which served food to the poor. Many of these structures are still in existence, and the former imaret is now a noted restaurant. The former hospital is now a printing factory owned by the Turkish Army.Just outside the mosque walls, to the north is the tomb of architect Sinan. It was completely restored in 1922.