The Süleymaniye Mosque is a large Ottoman imperial mosque on one of the hills of Istanbul, overlooking the Golden Horn. It was commissioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the chief imperial architect Mimar Sinan, with construction beginning in 1550 and the mosque opening in 1557. Its great central dome rises over a prayer hall surrounded by four minarets, and the complex includes four schools, a hospital, a public kitchen, baths and a cemetery containing the tombs of Suleiman and his wife Hürrem. Sinan considered it his work as a journeyman, before his later masterpiece in Edirne, but it is often regarded as the high point of classical Ottoman architecture. The mosque was damaged by fires and earthquakes and has been restored several times.
Before and after
- 28 January 1547Death of Henry VIII of England
- 29 September 1547Birth of Miguel de Cervantes
- 2 December 1547Death of Hernán Cortés
- January 1548Birth of Giordano Bruno
- 1550Construction of Süleymaniye Mosque
- 1550Founding of Concepción
- 1 February 1550Birth of John Napier
- 12 June 1550Founding of Helsinki
- from 15 August 1550 to 4 May 1551Valladolid debate
More in Art, literature & culture
- 15th centuryConstruction of Red Square
- 1600Rise of Baroque music
- 1602Publication of Hamlet
- c. 1653The Taj Mahal is completed
- 17th centuryRise of ukiyo-e
- October 1745Publication of God Save the King
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.