This mosque that was started to be constructed in 1550 with the order of Suleyman the Magnificent was completed in 1557. This monument that is in Istanbul and was realized with the mastermind of Koca Sinan, the Architect, covers an area of 57 meter long and 60 meter wide. The mosque has five main entrances, four on the sides and one on the back. The back door opens to a large portico. This is a large yard with a fountain in the center surrounded all around with 28 domes and 24 columns. The mosque has four minarets; those on the corners where the yard joins to the mosque are long and with three balconies and those on the other corners of the yard are with two balconies and shorter. The balconies and minarets have special meanings: Ten balconies indicates that Kanuni is the tenth Ottoman Sultan, and four minarets indicates that he is the fourth sultan after the conquest of Istanbul.  Suleymaniye, being a masterpiece with its internal and external architecture, is the largest of the mosques in Istanbul.

Editor, Medasist International
Archeologist Funda CIVAN