One of the most outstanding architectural masterpieces of Islamic culture is the Selimiye Mosque. This temple complex includes a school, library, a hospital, baths, a madrasa, a clock room, and several shops. The structure was built in 1568-1574 by the famous architect Sinan, who considered it his best work. When this architectural masterpiece was built, the architect was about 90 years old.
Mimar (meaning "builder") Sinan is one of the most famous architects of the Muslim world, whose name is associated with the unprecedented flowering of Ottoman architecture. He designed more than three hundred buildings, architectural ensembles and religious buildings erected on the territory of Turkey, Syria, Bosnia and Crimea. Sinan was born in a village in Asia Minor and in his youth was recruited. The future architect was sent to Istanbul and became a Janissary (the Sultan's personal guard, recruited from non-Muslims). In one of the campaigns of Suleiman the Magnificent in Moldavia, Sinan supervised the construction of a bridge across the Prut River. The bridge was built in thirteen days and pleased the Sultan very much. Sinan then became the chief imperial architect and stayed in this position for about fifty years. As a military engineer he built underground storerooms and bridges, and as an architect he built palaces, mosques, public baths and caravanserais. The most interesting works were erected by him in the second half of his life.
The Selimiye Mosque was built on the orders of Selim, the son of Sultan Suleiman and his wife Roksolana. Unlike his parents, Selim was not attractive outwardly - obese, short in stature, with a red, swollen face. He did not possess the talents of a statesman or a warrior. Selim was lazy, very promiscuous. indifferent to anything but his own pleasures. His love of alcohol was his strongest passion. He entrusted all matters of state to the Grand Vizier Sokoll. It's worth noting that this least distinguished of the Ottoman sultans composed his own poetry, imitating Persian authors. Death came to the Sultan in a bathhouse when, alone drinking a bottle of wine, he slipped and fell, hitting his head on the marble slabs.
In building the mosque, Selimiye Sinan created a unique octagonal vault support system, which consists of eight sturdy columns. The octagonal design allowed them to be made not very massive and, by pushing them back against the wall, to clear the central space of the mosque. The small half-domes, which alternate with partitions, are almost invisible from the outside. On the façade very clearly eight buttresses, which give a circular appearance to the whole structure. On At first inspection, one might not notice the rectangular layout of the mosque, which is is masked by the original architectural solutions.
In the very centre of the mosque there is a magnificent fountain covered with an interesting carved roof, quite rare for a religious building of those times. Four minarets, about eighty metres high, are set at the corners of the mosque. They are almost twice as tall as the central dome and are the second tallest in the world after the minarets of Mecca. Inside the minarets are beautiful and isolated from each other spiral staircases that lead up to the balconies (there are three on each minaret).
Light enters the mosque premises through 24 windows located in the arches. The interior of the building is skilfully decorated with purple marble, wooden carvings and calligraphy. The prayer hall has five domes above six marble columns. It is also decorated with stained glass windows and marble carvings. Soft Edirnean red sandstone is used in the decorative design of the courtyard. Around the mihrab and in the sultan's gallery to the left of it there are beautiful Iznik tiles.
The Selimiye Mosque, built of hewn stone, is on a small elevation. Surrounded by four tall minarets pointing to the sky, it dominates all the city's buildings and is visible from everywhere. Entrance to the the mosque is also open to non-Muslims. Selimiye Mosque is one of the major sights not only in Edirne, but also in the whole of Turkey. Not so long ago the building was honoured to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
