 As you can see in the image to the left, the Suleymaniye (Mosque highlighted in yellow) was located near the center of Istanbul, Turkey. This map was compiled and drawn by Jaspar Isac. It is an original map that was made before 1654. We do not know an exact date only because it was not clearly indicated on his work. We can say that it was before 1654 because this was the year in which he died, and therefore could not have possibly compiled it there after. It is difficult to see from this depiction of the city, but it is important to note that this mosque was built upon the hill top located in the capital city of the Ottoman Empire. This being the case, it is easy to understand that this was an important structure. To fully understand the purpose of this mosque and why it was constructed, we must first step back and take a brief moment to look at the man who started the entire process. Suleiman was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire who reigned during this time period and initiated the project. He reigned for over forty five years and accomplished many things such as land acquisition which nearly doubled the empire in territorial size. Due to his great accomplishments, it is quite easy to follow his train of thoughts which lead him to desire a grand mosque that would be more beautiful and exquisite than any mosque before its time. Another individual who contributed great amounts of influence to the architecture of this time period was Mimar Sinan. He is accredited with constructing and overseeing over four hundred buildings. His served the empire in the position of chief royal architect for nearly fifty years, which was longer than Suleymaniye reigned as Sultan.  Now we will begin our tour of the mosque it self. As we take a virtual tour of this mosque we will encounter many distinguishable features, some of which are common among Islamic mosques of this time period. We will also cover important terms which will help further your understanding of architecture from this culture, and can still be applied today in many cases. Standing from the surrounding streets, one can not ignore the amazing site before them. The grandness of this mosque and its surrounding territory is astonishing. One of the first things a patron to this mosque would notice is the minarets. Minarets are the large towers that rise high above the walls of the complex and typically rise above the domes of the mosque as well. The minarets of this mosque have a total of ten balconies, which some people indicate was a purposeful design to symbolize Suleymaniye who was the 10th sultan of the empire. From the modern day street, one would entire in through one of many gates into the inner area of the mosque complex. From here you would then move into the courtyard of the mosque. The courtyard has an open area, common in most mosques. The boundary that makes up the exterior wall has many small domes along the top, as well as beautiful arches which are only evident from inside the courtyard. Many of the materials used for the courtyard, such as the granite and marble columns, were brought in from other locations in the city as well as surrounding cities in the Byzantine region, including Egypt and Greece! This theme of importing materials from other parts of the world continues as you travel into the mosque. This was done for many reasons. The main reason was to show how powerful and influential he was at that time. His wealth was also highlighted as a mark of achievement which is evident due to the costs and man power needed to important such large amount of materials.  The largest dome in the center of the mosque has many elements. The painting surrounding the golden medallion in the center of the dome came several centuries after the original construction. This type of art is of the Baroque-style. The medallion itself  was maintained to be
accurate with the original style of decor as well as other inscriptions
throughout the mosque.Some of the great accomplishments which led to structures of this greatness were the uniform terminology that Mimar Sinan put into place during his time as the chief royal architect. This allowed for everyone working with his projects, including the Suleymaniye Mosque, to understand completely the ideas and descriptions that he put on to paper in Istanbul no matter where the project was to be completed. Even more impressive was the standardization of actual measurements. This was extremely important, possibly more so than uniform terminology, because it allowed them to make correct measurement. This had many benefits such as more accurate construction and a final project that reflected the correct proportions and ratios used during the design phase. Overall, it led to a more aesthetic end result as well as an easier process to achieve the desired results. Image Information: Image Numbers begin from the top of the page and progress as displayed on the page. Image 1 - Map of Istanbul, before 1654. Drawn by Jaspar Isac. Source: See Primary Information. Image 2 - Exterior View of the Suleymaniye Mosque from inside the Courtyard. Creative Commons Terms and Agreements. Image 3 - Interior View Ground Level of the Suleymaniye Mosque. GNU Free Documentation License. Image 4 - Interior View of the Domes of the Suleymaniye Mosque. GNU Free Documentation License. Bibliography: Primary: Jaspar Isac, Map of Istanbul. Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Historic Cities. Accessed on 16 October 2008. Link to Web Address. Secondary: Enime Fetvaci, The Suleymaniye Mosque Tour. Accessed on 16 October 2008. Link to Web Address. Note About the Sources: The primary source was fairly unique for this episode; it was an original map by Jasper Isac which portrayed the city of Istanbul. I relied on this to show the significance of the building based on its placement. Also, I used the photograph to instill in the reader a better sense of how the city was set up and different styles of architecture used, which is easy to contrast with the indicated structure on the actual image of the original map. The author of the secondary source used in this episode, Emime Fetvaci, showed great knowledge about the time period in question. She holds a PhD. from the University of Stanford. She has taught at Rice and Stanford Universities and is an art historian. |