Suleymaniye Mosque istanbul Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Suleymaniye Mosque istanbul - Essay Example The edifice was the 7 years masterpiece work led by the Ottoman engineer, Mimar Sinan in the year 1550 to 1557. Mimar Sinan studied with great interest one of the model edifices, the Hagia Sophia Church. Hagia Sophia Church is the Byzantine church of Divine Wisdom which was used by the Ottomans as prayer house at the onset of occupancy in Turkey (Jackh, 1952; Turkey, 2006). However, the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem constructed in 643 apparently set the primary standards of subsequent Mosque architectures in the Islamic sphere of influence (Hitchcock, Lloyd, Rice, Lynton, Boyd, and Carden, 1963). Departing from the four sided building of the Kaaba which was constructed by Abraham and Ysmael, peace is upon them, the Dome of the Rock Mosque is shape in a rotunda (Hitchcock et al., 1963) on top of the hill. During the Ottoman reign over Turkey, from 1288 to 1923, the organized sultanate took over properties which were left behind by the Byzantine monarchs. A few of these are the buildings with its arts and architecture. The structures as well as the adornments very well portrayed influences not only of Byzantine art but also from the Seljuk Turks. The Seljuks' ruled Turkey from 1071 to the 1300th's. The Seljuks' introduced some arts and architectural designs they must have picked up from Persia and Anatolia. Although some of the structures were refurbished from one set of colonizer to the next, some served as models for the construction of buildings that were called Ottoman Mosques (Hitchcock et al., 1963). Suleymaniye imperial Mosque is one of the legendary architectural model output that exist up to date. The Mosque was named after Suleiman the sultan of the era. The structure was adorned with 4 very prominent external minarets, dome shape roof, the prayer hall, iwan, sahn, and garden (Essential Architecture, Asia-West, 2009). The floor plan reveals a square architectural structure (Hitchcock et al., 1963). Source: Essential Architecture, Asia-West, 2009 Source: Title: World Architecture: An Illustrated History; Publisher