Istanbul - Süleymaniye mosque

Süleymaniye mosque

Süleymaniye mosque

As already mention this mosque was also built by Süleyman I and is located on a hill close to the Sehzade Camii. This mosque is Istanbul`s largest beadhouse. The mosque is 59 meters long and 58 meters wide.

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The main couple is 53 meters high and roofs the four minarets which symbolize that Süleyman was the 4th Sultan after Constantinople `s conquest. Besides the main part for praying and the atrium the complex includes a Carvansaray, a people`s kitchen and a hospital, a hamam and a library as well as a prayer school. The inside of the mosque is made of white marble and the coloured windows evolve a light display. By the way perhaps you ask yourself what is a Caravansaray? In Ottoman times a Caravansaray was something like a hostel situated close to important caravan roads. A Caravansaray was a stock, market place and hostel in one. The architectural style is very similar to the almost 1000 year older Hagia Sophia. In the court of the Süleymaniye mosque there is a fountain complex decorated with bronze.

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In the courtgarden there are two mausoleums where Süleyman I, his wife and daughter as well as his sister and mother were buried. His wife Roxelane ( also known as Haseki Hürrem) originally came from Ukraine and was robbed and sold by Tatars to Istanbul. In Istanbul a dignitary make Roxelane as a present to the Sultan Süleyman. She is said to be red-haired and a very beautiful woman, so beautiful that the Sultan killed one of his other wifes and her son and sent another wife and her son to the exile to Bursa.Besides the family of Sultan Süleyman I also the families of Süleyman II and Ahmed II were buried in the mausoleum of the Süleymaniye mosque. In front of the mosque there is another gravesite- the grave of the mosque's architect Sinan.

Süleymaniye mosque by istanbul turkey.co.uk