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The Suleymaniye mosque is the second
largest but by far the finest and most magnificiant of the imperial
mosque complexes in the city. Suleymaniye Mosque is an architectural
masterpiece. It was constructed by the great Ottoman Architect Mimar
Sinan.
The mosque construction work began in 1550 and it was finished in
1557 on the order of Sultan Suleyman I ( Suleyman the Magnificent ).
Suleyman was the richest and most powerful Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire.
It is considered to be a kind of architectural answer to the Hagia
Sophia ( Byzantine ) commissioned by the Emperor Justinian. Sinan's
Suleymaniye mosque is a more symmetrical, rationalized and
light-filled interpretation of earlier Ottoman precedents, as well
as the Hagia Sophia.
Suleymaniye mosque is 59 meters in length and 58 meters in width,
the main dome is 53 meters high and has a diameter of 26.5 meters.
It is domed, with four minaret towers. Inside of the mosque you will
be impressed by its size and also simplicity: tiles from Iznik
province and colored glass-work brings harmony to a place of prayer
and silence. 4 massive solid columns support this mosque: one from
Baalbek, another from Alexandria and two from old Byzantine Palaces.
The paintings inside of the mosque are dated from the 19th century
and were recently renovated.
Numerous earthquakes that have shaken Istanbul over the centuries
have not caused a single crack in the mosque.
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