Suleymaniye Mosque The Süleymaniye Mosque, designed by Mimar Sinan and commissioned by Sultan Süleyman, was completed between 1550 and 1557. The mosque has faced numerous disasters throughout its history, including damage from the 1660 Great Fire and the 1766 earthquake. Restoration efforts by Sultan Mehmed IV were further complicated by the collapse of part of the ceiling, which damaged Sinan's original decoration. In 1956, the mosque was fully restored. The mosque measures 59m by 58m, with a dome flanked by semi-domes on either side. Large monoliths of porphyry stone support tympana-decorated windows on the north and south arches. Sinan's design also incorporated buttresses, which were connected to the walls and disguised by two-story colonnaded galleries built around them on the inside and outside. Despite the setbacks caused by disasters, the Süleymaniye Mosque remains a significant architectural landmark in Istanbul. Commissioned by Sultan Süleyman, the Süleymaniye Mosque is a stunning example of Ottoman architecture, designed by the renowned imperial architect Mimar Sinan and completed in 1557. Despite being damaged in several disasters throughout its history, including a fire during World War I, it was fully restored in 1956. The mosque's interior decoration is characterized by restrained elegance, with stained-glass windows only used on the qibla wall, and Iznik tile revetments exclusively found around the mihrab. These rectangular tiles have a stenciled floral pattern on a plain white background, featuring mainly blue, turquoise, red, and black colors but not green. Large tiles with calligraphic texts from surah Al-Fatiha in the Quran adorn either side of the mihrab, while the mihrab and mimbar are made with marble and white mother-of-pearl, featuring simple designs. Woodwork is similarly restrained, with subtle designs adorning ivory and mother of pearl. The Süleymaniye Mosque was designed as a kulliye, or complex with adjacent structures to cater to both religious and cultural needs, much like other imperial mosques in Istanbul. The original complex included the mosque itself, a hospital (darussifa), a primary school, public baths (hamam), a caravanserai, four Qur'an schools (medrese), a specialized school for the learning of hadith, a medical college, and a public kitchen serving food to the poor. While some of these structures are still in operation, such as the former imaret, now a renowned restaurant, the former hospital is now a printing factory owned by the Turkish Army.